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To understand the entire paradox of popular counterculture and of mainstream movements who claim rebelling against the system one needs to understand how and why American culture is built on the myth of teenage rebellion.
The idea of teenage angst and of rebelling against the norm brought by the silly boomer parents seems so natural to those thoroughly americanised that no doubt is given to the idea that it is a human constant... but is it?
Anthropologists who actually studied the phenomenon instead found that it is indeed a purely cultural phenomenon – teenage delinquency seems to magically spring up whenever American culture (education and TV, lately that'd also be internet) is introduced. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-myth-of-the-teen-brain-2007-06/
Lately American culture has extended this period of irresponsibility all through the 20s... just think of all the soybeards making blogposts on reddit on how they fail at adulting
Teenage angst that's central to this American idea of adolescence seems to be more related to this inability to cope with the fact that despite being adults already (inexperienced, but still) they're completely unequipped for actual life
But what about the rites of passage? In most traditional cultures there's some kind of brutal passage into adulthood after which boys are considered men...
The whole IDEA of rebellion is in a way an American rite of passage... and it is tied to the idea that children ABSOLUTELY MUST leave their parents – the symbolic rebellion against authority of bloodline.
But this is again far from being an universal rule!
But this is again far from being an universal rule!
On an ideological level, this also means that young adults are EXPECTED to be loudly opposed to the opinions of their parents – so, of course, there is need to pick up generally the most offensive opinion their peers bring in.
So, what does this create? It creates the ideals of false rebellion, of false counterculture – propped up by the entertainment industry, which are then gobbled up by those whose mental numbness makes them want to follow the herd but are told they need to rebel with own opinions.
And, uh, you get this. From "ugh I was so BASIC" to "expressing myself" looking like everyone who claims they're counterculture. Many such cases! https://twitter.com/rachelcantu/status/1303312233355771904