Some thoughts on Gen Z discourse.

Gen Z isn’t a monolith, and older generations run the risk of condescending toward younger generations when they judge the young ones entering adulthood.

But: Gen Z definitely does have a puritanical streak obsessed with order and social mores

Looking at the US: American Gen Z’ers grew up in one of the most chaotic and destabilizing times of the past 30 years. The financial crisis and recession. The internet boom. The ongoing imperialist “war on terror.” The rise of corporate social media. It’s been a difficult life

One filled with major highs and major lows. One with few adult figures to turn to for help and guidance, because they’re so out of their element with what you’re going through. How do you talk to Mom and Dad about internet hate mobs? You don’t. You’re alone on this one

Order, strict rules and codes, a need for stability enforced communally: these are common themes among Gen Z for a reason. It’s a way for so many young adults to create a moral and ethics system for the deeply chaotic, destabilized, and messy lives they’re forced to navigate

The problem: Order and stability, structure and strict rules... they have to be counterweighed with flexibility and temperance.

Any structure too tightly wound becomes suffocating. And ethical codes are only as ethical as their creators are exposed to new ethics. Gen Z isn’t.

This is how you get a 20 year old Zoomer who not just thinks, but enforces, the idea “MLM and WLW ships are innately objectifying.” It’s an order and structure system spitting out a rigid enforcement that doesn’t actually match the way people live their lives.