"Forgive us Yura, We Fucked Up", The Crisis Behind The Burnout Generation
Photo from Sam Fender’s “Hypersonic Missiles”, shot by Vincent Haycock
Time grants us with opportunities to become whoever we want be, in any field imaginable. You can be a cook, a software engineer, an actor, a therapist, and all of that, just like the internet promises, without needing to leave the house. Despite our parents always happily reminding us of how “lucky” we are to have what they never did, precisely “the abundance of choice”, it is a two-sided coin. Accessibility to knowledge is one of the most valuable perks of our time and the key to solving the world's most pressing problems. Unfortunately, what our generation often gets instead, is early burnout. A bundle of mental health issues, and yet, constant pressure from peers, parents, and the world, to do more... without a particular purpose of doing so.
The world is our oyster, we got that part, but what’s next?
Let’s travel back in time, where past generations had grand aspirations for the future. Not without the deceptive veil of nostalgia, we can look at the 20th century as an age of driven dreamers. Fueled by the bright images of flying cars and immortality, life on mars, parties with aliens, and robots taking over the world, scientists and thinkers of the time, tirelessly crafted progress with their bare hands. Some might argue that what we have now–with our advanced societies and economic growth– is rather a byproduct of the secure foundation, rather than that of our efforts. The statement, however, is debatable.
By many parameters, we do now live in a better world. Progress is everywhere. But what is this progress? We have phones with three cameras, and then two again– for more money– and then three. We have new cars. We have Elon Musk. Finally, we have a whole generation of people who are taught to strive to have everything, and are still quite unhappy. We have a crippling environmental catastrophe, rising political instability, and a growing wealth gap. We live in a better world now than any generations before us. Will generations ahead have the same luck?
Photo from Sam Fender’s “Hypersonic Missiles”, shot by Vincent Haycock
There is a somewhat sad saying in Russia (by no mean am I Russian, and by no means is the saying official), "Forgive us, Yura, we fucked up" (translation: Прости нас Юра, мы все потеряли.), referring to the Soviet cosmonaut and the first man to travel to the moon, Yuri Gagarin, who held great hopes for the future generations. Indeed, it might seem that if the youth of that time was to hear what the majority now dreams of, they would be if not disappointed, then definitely baffled. Possibly, because the concept of dreaming as such for Millenials has ceased to exist. It has been replaced by a never-ending stream of to-do lists and unnecessary obligations.
Dreams are now labeled as naive and childish. It is the age of hard work and ruthless ethics. The “hustle” culture has consolidated an almost toxic mindset in most of us, and no one ever feels like they do enough. Healthy competition slowly but surely feeds into a brewing cut-throat environment, and the stakes of losing seem to be as high as ever. Add on top of that, rigorous academic curriculum and a pressure coming from seemingly everyone, and you get a perfect recipe for a generation of 21 year old burnouts.
Photo from Sam Fender’s “Hypersonic Missiles”, shot by Vincent Haycock
Unlike their parents, Gen-Z lacks the luxury of having a degree of certainty about the future. We have been “gifted” the opportunities to pursue anything. It came at a cost of a complete absence of safe harbor. Not only is it a race, but it’s a race on a tightrope, with no safety net, in which it’s recommended to not look down. Moreover, as drastic as it sounds, deep inside most people my age do not really know who they want to be when they “grow up”. Not only are we not encouraged to give this question a proper thought, but we are also placed into a mindset that we can think of it later– first, you need to finish your degrees and get a job, and then another one, and maybe after, you can think of a life purpose.
In constant pursuit of (often empty) achievements and a cycle of burnouts, it is no surprise that our minds are exhausted. So, what we now crave are distractions. Thankfully (but actually not), we have plenty. Our addiction to social media is a long-discussed topic and, maybe a cliché. However, as it recently stopped serving as a tool for external validation, it is now needed to occupy and rewind our minds, preventing them from spiralling down into stress and anxiety. Of course, such a coping mechanism cannot serve us for long. The youngsters more often find themselves in a life-purpose crisis when they are expected to be finding it.
Photo from Sam Fender’s “Hypersonic Missiles”, shot by Vincent Haycock