33 at the end of the month. Kill me. : memes

[–] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 26 points 3 days ago (4 children)

I'm an "elder" millennial.... I'm 40+.

Pretty much everything went to shit right after I got to the workforce. It was somewhat subtle at first, but it's only gotten far worse and far more obvious as time has gone on.

Kids? Nah bro. Have you seen the world? I don't want to live here, why would I subject someone that I care about to a life, living in this hellscape? Like all parents, I'm sure I would love my children if they existed and even though they don't exist, I still love them enough to not subject them to gestures at everything this.

I haven't gotten a meaningful raise since starting work. I was originally hired at basically minimum wage, a bit better than it in my area (ironically, my starting wage in my career is now below what minimum is now), and the only time I went up in salary is when I changed jobs.

With more than half a dozen years of experience (this is a while back) I was fighting for anything over $60k/yr (it gets worse), while housing in my area was skyrocketing above $400k for a modest home....

After the usual expenses of food and rent, I've been robbed blind by being given no choice but to buy things "as a service" and own fucking nothing. I've pushed back against it as much as possible and after years, I paid off my vehicle and absolutely, positively, 100% own this now 13 year-old car. Whoopee....

I've lived through everything from 9/11, to Trump... Twice.... And nothing has ever quantifiably gotten "better" without getting worse in some other way.

Better, faster, more capable computers? You're obligated to run software that spies on you. Better cars with fancy tech that makes them basically drive themselves? Only if you subscribe to activate the seat warmers for a nominal yearly fee.... Phones are more capable, better, faster, more connected and overall significantly improved? These are now devices used by companies to harvest every meaningful ounce of information from you, selling it to the highest bidders (multiple times, I might add), and giving you nothing for your contribution. Congratulations, someone has monetized your existence via an app on your phone.

Everything is worse. You never have time off work anymore. Even if you take vacation, the expectation is that if they call you, you'll answer, then you're working for free. But if you don't answer, then your job is at risk.

Fuck everything. This world sucks. I'm fucking sick of all of this shit and I'm mad as hell about it.

[–] Fluke@lemm.ee 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Same position and age as you, except I got diagnosed autistic and ADHD at 33. Haven't been able to work in the one field I have any training in for decades, as that now basically means call centre work which triggers migraines (now known to be sensory overload).

Can't afford to retrain, can't get disability to help with costs because of UKGov cycling disability claimants through tribunals to massage the statistics. I lose the disability, I lose my funding. I get the disability back plus back pay, but am still booted from university for not being able to pay in the mean time.

G fucking G. I guess I just wait around until I die or get angry enough to commit an act of political violence that leaves a mark.

[–] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I was diagnosed with ADHD a few years back... Just shortly before I turned 40.

I'm lucky that seems to be the only thing my brain struggles with. After about a year and a half, I found a combination of drugs that works for me, and I've been doing ok, as far as my ability to think, concentrate, or focus at work goes....

I'm in Canada, so we have similar issues with our social support programs. I know this because, while I got off light in my diagnosis, my brother has far more severe ADHD symptoms, and he has other medical complications that make treatments difficult at best. I won't go into his medical issues since that's not my story to tell, but from a high level, most of the problems root in the fact that he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in his mid-teens.....

He's actually registered in the disability system and I've helped, or at least tried to help him navigate it and get to a point where he can do anything and get any support at all. Needless to say, I get it. Our system isn't super different from the UK system. Personally I think it's shameful that we give such a hard time to people with diagnosed disabilities, it's not like those disabilities are going to... Idk, stop being a thing? It's kind of a life long problem.

I'm lucky in the fact that if I continue taking the meds, I'm more or less "normal". I have a steady job and I help my brother as I am able.

None of this is to detract, compare or "one-up" your challenges. The purpose to saying all of this is that I get it, I emphasize with your situation. I hope you are doing better and that the UK disability system stops fucking up your coverage so you can get back to living your life.

All the best, from across the ocean.

[–] Fluke@lemm.ee 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Still "experimenting" via my GP with various meds. Perhaps one day we'll stumble onto something that works.

Glad to hear you've found a regimen that works for you though, and that it enables/better places you to help your brother.

Ultimately, helping each other survive existence with the minimum of anguish is the best any of us can be.

As for UKGov (or CanGov for that matter) getting their collective heads out of arses and not using disabled folk as easy marks, I suspect much worse is to come before it gets better. This place is like a microcosm of the US in a lot of ways.

I appreciate your well wishes all the same 💛

[–] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I agree, helping eachother is the best any of us can be. I've dedicated my life to helping others.

My dayjob is IT support, and I am often holding certification in first aid (I currently need to renew this), and I have a lot of skills that I've developed specifically to assist others. I have, know how to operate, and actively use radio technology as a qualified amateur and regularly volunteer for events to help communication and coordination between medical teams, security, supplies and other services at public events.

I even carry a car battery boost device in my vehicles trunk for the odd time I come across someone who's car won't start, and I have a set of booster cables in case the battery in the pack is flat... As an example. I usually have a first aid kit in there too. Just in case.

There's a lot we could, and probably should be doing to help ourselves and others; I firmly believe that basic emergency first aid and CPR should be a part of the highschool curriculum, and we should learn how to access social services like disability services, welfare, unemployment, and other government services, in highschool as well. Instead we take classes on English in countries where that's the native language, yet people still don't know how to articulate themselves in a comprehendable way, and we take several years of maths classes, including algebra, geometry, and so much more, that most people never even see similar problems again ever... Instead of teaching algebra, how about a class on how to file your taxes?

I have a lot of strong feelings about it and bluntly, nobody with any possibility of enacting change, cares.

I strongly feel like highschool failed me, and most of the people in society, and it could be so much better, and there's simply no evolution or evaluation of what's being taught and what's actually relevant for people to know.

In any case, I hope I can continue to help others and that's the biggest reason why I'm still alive. I'm trying to make this place a bit more livable for the people that are here.

[–] Fluke@lemm.ee 2 points 2 days ago

We share a lot of traits and opinions it would seem.

It's uplifting to come across someone who reminds you that there are still at least a few worth fighting for, that not everyone is a self-absorbed asshat with an axe to grind or agenda to push.

School in general in the UK is a bit of a shit show, slowly getting more and more privatised with each successive government. "Privatisation isn't working... Maybe we're not doing it hard enough.."

Perhaps the things your economy relies on should not be placed in the hands of organisations whose very raison d'être is to extract the maximum possible profit possible for themselves...? Energy, transport, education, healthcare, food supply; all privately owned and decreasing in quality while costing more, and, to rub salt into the wound, the entities responsible then dodge as much tax as is possible.

Our supposed "Labour" party is captured by self-serving neoliberal corporate puppets that are beholden to the extremists running the US right now.

They've recently announced that they're going to make it even harder to claim disability benefits, and those that still make it will be paid less than currently. In almost the same breath, they were excited to let everyone know that they're going to either cut or get rid of the new Digital Services Tax designed to ensure Amazon, Google et al actually pay tax to speak of. Because, y'know, Bezos needs another new yacht.

Honestly, it seems we're long overdue to remind the politicians who they're actually supposed to work for. If that means a few heads have to come off to get the message across loud and clear, I'm certainly not upset about it. I don't see things getting better until that level of event occurs, to be frank.

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[–] devilish666@lemmy.world 149 points 4 days ago (1 children)

[–] Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works 37 points 4 days ago

I think the worst part is that we do, in fact, know it will get worse... But we were raised thinking we'd all live in big houses and be free of debt by now.

[–] DarkFuture@lemmy.world 74 points 4 days ago (7 children)

Millennial about to turn 41.

I'm tired.

I'm not particularly fond of my fellow Americans anymore.

And I don't have an ounce of patriotism left.

This country can go ahead and fuck itself. Which it appears to be doing pretty thoroughly. Dumbest fucking country in the history of the world if you take into account its wealth and influence compared to its quality of life and happiness index.

Weighing how much effort/money it would take to get Canadian citizenship and whether I have that kind of energy left in me.

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[–] HexesofVexes@lemmy.world 21 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Millennials were also the generation that got to watch the surface web turn into an abandoned mall.

Good times.

[–] BreadOven@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Agreed.

But I still debate whether or not unrestricted internet access as a older kid/teen was a good thing or not haha. I'm sure we've all clicked links we regretted or went to those sites (rotten, or other shock sites). If we didn't see all that shit growing up, would we be different? I'm not sure, but would be interesting to see some research on this (there may be some already, I haven't looked).

Anyways, I recently found a great website for lemon-themed recipes. It's www.lemonparty.org, check it out!

[–] HexesofVexes@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Ah yes, the site for learning more about trump's upcoming plans. Good share.

[–] Dozzi92@lemmy.world 10 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Early 2000s internet was so good. I don't know that it's possible to go back there. You needed it to be a little bit wild west, you needed to say "Hey, if I click this website, am I going to regret it?" But folks were generally real (except apparently the girls I talked to in AIM chat rooms, but hey, I survived).

[–] JuxtaposedJaguar@lemmy.ml 5 points 3 days ago

18/f/cali is a mindset, not a statement of fact.

[–] Asafum@feddit.nl 89 points 4 days ago (3 children)

"We don't know why are all the younger generations depressed! They just need to buy less avacado toast and they can buy a house..."

-clueless boomers.

[–] perishthethought@lemm.ee 44 points 4 days ago (3 children)

First year Gen X-er here. We know why you're depressed. We went through similar things, believe it not. I often wish I could share how scary living through the 80s was -- often fearing a nuclear apocalypse, environmental decline, wars, riots and unrest all over the world, politicians who didn't give a damn or had no idea how to make things better. Nobody listens to you when you're in your 20s. It seems most now think the 80s were just like Family Ties. Not so.

But this too shall pass. You can help make it better by getting out there and working with the good guys. Don't give up.

[–] CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world 26 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Yeah there's definitely some rose tint looking back to the 70's, 80's, and 90's. Crime was ridiculous compared to the levels these days, just for a start. But it was just 'normal'. We've made a lot of progress there. Which is about to be undone as people get increasingly desperate.

[–] InputZero@lemmy.world 17 points 4 days ago (1 children)

There were several energy crisiss that kneecapped a lot of the 70s and 80. Nixon, the Vietnamese war, the fall of the USSR. All those things were monumental moments in history and we survived. The world isn't over yet, but Trump is really trying to make everyone jump to the end game

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[–] tanukikabuki@lemm.ee 13 points 3 days ago

I had a discussion about this very thing with a Boomer, who proceeded to state they essentially went through more and including the shared recessions that myself as a millennial went through. Gas shortages of the 70s, wars, protests, etc, failing to grasp the point that was being made that their generation has had all the opportunities. They closed it out with, oh well maybe you should work harder and save more... yeah okay, hard to do that when I am overtaxed, inflation is on the rise, were likely entering Great Depression 2.0 thanks to Donvict, can't afford a house when a mortgage would be cheaper than renting where I am at, but sure yea I will just work til I drop with little living in between, that's the fix, its not the system, its me. Their "I got mine" attitude is astounding dismissive and part of the issue with their generation. Not all of them, some of them get it, but a large majority look at millenials and the younger generation as being lazy and that's why there is such a massive homeless population problem. Not that wages have not grown proportionally with the cost of living, its just that we don't work hard enough. I half joked that the greatest thing that could have happened was that COVID wiped a large swath of their generation off the map, it would save Social Security, free up housing, bring down the burden on healthcare, lower GOP voting base of angry bigot whites that hold on to the belief that America is only right if it is white, a large part of politicians that have made a career out of it would be removed ushering in a new more modern means of thinking into politics, and we might actually make some progress in this country. But nope, now we have angry Karens and racist Kyles who blame immigrants for all their problems rather than looking at the disparity between American generations.

[–] Cocopanda@futurology.today 41 points 4 days ago (10 children)

I’m about to turn 39. I just want a home or apartment of my own. Why is this happening? Why did the stupids get so powerful?

[–] selokichtli@lemmy.ml 14 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (3 children)

King Crimson's Epitaph lyrics, from 1969, sing:

Well, knowledge is a deadly friend, when no one sets the rules. The fate of all mankind, I fear, is in the hands of fools.

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[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 14 points 3 days ago

Why is this happening? Why did the stupids get so powerful?

This isn't unique to the modern moment. Your parents called their elders stupid. Alphas will call Millennials stupid. But if we want to get to the real disparity between ideologies - the reason so many people are getting MAGA pilled in the face of seemingly obvious disaster - it really does just boil down to our mass media poisoning our brains.

Fifty years of misinformation, con-artistry, and industrial scale commercial fraud has given birth to a population that is simultaneously desperate for a White Knight to come save them and so steeped in cynicism that they accept idiots and assholes in power as the best we're capable of doing. Whether its Trump or Biden, Bezos or Musk, Wolf Blitzer or Alex Jones, there's this baseline understanding that "My guy might suck but the other guy is so much worse".

And the deadliest poison of them all is the pride - the implicit assumption that you can't trust anyone but yourself because you're surrounded by morons. We're increasingly alienated from one another and exposed to manipulation by computerized algorithms A/B testing us for our biases. Divided from one another, with our hatreds toward The Other inflamed while our access to basic necessities increasingly gated, we're pushed into deeper and more vulgar polarized camps micro-managed by demagogues and other influencers.

"The Stupid" is just the fear - of our looming poverty, of our dangerously polarized neighbors, of declining health and diminished free time. It's not idiocy, its anxiety. We're acting rashly because we all seem to know we're being boxed in for the slaughter and none of us trust anyone else to recognize that we need to work together to escape it.

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[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 48 points 4 days ago (27 children)

It's not like this is a millennial thing:

And you can keep going back. Also, the plural of crisis is crises.

[–] DarkFuture@lemmy.world 40 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Masks off.

This country has always been pretty awful.

We just had a short golden age where we taxed the fuck out of rich people and were simultaneously benefitting from the spoils of a World War.

[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 20 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (7 children)

I wish I could upvote this more than once.

The economic boom the US experienced in the 1950s and 1960s was the result of:

Pro-worker economic policies enacted during the great depression that were kept in place through WWII and remained in place until they started getting killed off in the 1970s and were fully killed off in the 1980s by Reagan.
The top tax bracket being set at 90%.
The US being one of the only countries that didn't have its infrastructure absolutely trashed during WWII.

Even if the US went back to pro-worker, anti-oligarch policies, we're unlikely to see another golden age unless there's another world war that doesn't damage the US. When people talk about their grandfather supporting 4 kids as a plumber, that was wonderful, but it was never the norm.

Let's see: !lemmysilver

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[–] plantmoretrees@lemm.ee 5 points 2 days ago

Will Smith is a removed’s removed

[–] eugenevdebs@lemmy.dbzer0.com 30 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I'm on the oldest edge of Gen Z, 27 year old here.

I can maybe handle my parents promising a good life for me before rug pulling that. Well, I can't and that's one of the many reasons why I have mental health issues.

I don't think they could have predicted 3 economic crashes in my life before I turn the age they conceived me.

It's just profoundly sad that there are people who were raised for this planet and the planet has changed fundamentally in the last 20 years alone. The technology, the temperature, the expected job market, the ability to own even basic things, the political climate.

Most people on Lemmy were raised with a bright future that has been dimmed each passing year. The only light we have are those we are close to.

[–] HawlSera@lemm.ee 10 points 3 days ago (5 children)

A big reason why the old people don't get it, is that they see young people with luxuries, and don't realize that luxuries, like my high end gaming PC and addiction to junkfood.... Still costs less than three month's rent no matter how much I splurge

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[–] NeilBru@lemmy.world 15 points 3 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

I'm turning 42 this summer. I'm considered an "elder millennial".

I'm tired, boss.

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[–] But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world 25 points 3 days ago

While being called lazy

[–] FordBeeblebrox@lemmy.world 18 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I feel like I live in interesting times, and understand why it’s used as an insult

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[–] Pirky@lemmy.world 33 points 4 days ago

I'm tired, boss

[–] MdRuckus@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago

Add a few more things for Millennials who were born in the 80’s.

[–] andros_rex@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago (1 children)

“All you need to do to succeed is go to college!”

“Cool, how do I afford it?”

“Well yeah looks like the guy your mom married makes too much money for you to deserve any form of help. Try working more!”

“Cool, I spent the last few years burning myself out for a degree while working full time and supplementing with sex work. I’ll have nightmares about a motel for the rest of my life, but now I can have a full time job and work towards owning a house now? I even promised to be a teacher, that’s a job with a huge shortage right and I shouldn’t have just grabbed a cheap online BA because there are no requirements anymore?”

“Uhh, lol no we actually want unqualified babysitters. Better than being a gross tranny.”

The fact that my ex husband spent my thirtieth birthday with someone he gave $5k too, three months before kicking me out and emptying my bank account, the fact that I live in a state where even if I were cis the resources for survivors of DV are non existent, the fact that I don’t know if my drivers license is valid anymore….

I’m not even thirty three and I’m exhausted. I can deal with my life sucking or the world sucking, but not both at the same time.

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[–] Manifish_Destiny@lemmy.world 10 points 3 days ago (6 children)

I just turned 33. I've had grey hairs since 29.

[–] BreadOven@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

You can't see the grey hairs if you shave your head.

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[–] leave_it_blank@lemmy.world 25 points 4 days ago (1 children)

In the 2020s alone we had COVID, Russian Nazis, and now Trump Nazis. Oh, and we went past 1.5 degrees.

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[–] RubberElectrons@lemmy.world 26 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (3 children)

I keep telling myself: could be worse. Could also be better, but could be worse 🤷😬

Not sure who I'm trying to convince haha.

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[–] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 25 points 4 days ago (8 children)

Stop crying, geez.
(You'll need those tears for your forties)

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[–] HawlSera@lemm.ee 10 points 3 days ago

33, will be 34 not long after the Switch 2 launches....

At this point I welcome death, I feel like I've earned Valhalla at this point.

[–] exasperation@lemm.ee 21 points 4 days ago (7 children)

Some of us millennials have been extraordinarily lucky.

I'm an old millennial but I avoided any personal impact from the 2001 recession by being in college, on financial aid.

Then the 2008 recession didn't hit me very hard because I wasn't a homeowner was a single childless dude who was flexible enough to just up and move wherever there was a job, across the country if necessary. I had a different job in a different state each year from 2008 through 2011, taking big raises with each move, then eventually back to school.

Then the 2020 recession didn't hit me very hard because my wife and I both had counter-cyclical jobs (I tend to be busier when businesses are failing) and already owned a home, allowing us to bypass much of the inflation of the post-2020 period with a fixed rate mortgage we had refinanced to below 3% in 2021.

Now, the 2025 recession is probably gonna hit us hard. But I've basically escaped the last 3, so maybe I'm due.

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[–] capt_wolf@lemmy.world 18 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Just wait til you're in your 40s...

[–] ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com 20 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

More than half of millennials are >=37 years old now...hell, the oldest are in their mid forties now

[–] smee@poeng.link 20 points 4 days ago (9 children)

I wonder how many of us have settled for being content with watching the world burn.

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