Millennial v/s GenZ could get bloody
Perhaps, call a primitive part in us humans perpetually paranoid about survival the reason, we desperately want to belong to a group. Our genes know we can survive only as a “pack”. All on our own, we’re no match to even a dog. Why dogs, even a cockroach is enough to make some of us lock themselves in a different room as the heart palpitates and senses spring alert. In this instinctive takeover, there is always an enemy. A rush of hate is an easier and lazier way to feel safe than the laborious path of digging to the root of reasons.
Of course, this forms the biological base. Upon which layers and layers of meanings have formed. To such an extent, that, today we don’t even consider ourselves animals when our actions scream that we are the worst of what we call them. “Packs” of different types and sizes, bodily obsessed with our fragile existence, screaming for a space in this big wide world and in the hunt for anyone who can breach that space.
What else can explain our readiness to attach an identity to a group or a thought-process at the drop of a hat. And stay loyal to the identity blindly beyond the practical reasons or the contexts of their origin. Times change, contexts diffuse, reasons die, but the home turf of that identity is kept alive. Defended by the “pack” from a world full of enemies. Let alone arguably justifiable crusades for God, we are ready to kill or die for a football club. The club might’ve had a rich history, but the current lot could be pathetic, the management couldn’t care less about the game, the finances could have a greater priority over players’ health, the game strategies could be dumb, but in the eye of the fan, it’s the greatest club ever. And he or she will, against all reason proclaim this to the world.
Similarly, we’re all just waiting for the next smallest thing to belong to. Men and women have long become two different species if the differences are to be believed. Now, beach-lovers have begun showing a genuine superiority complex over mountain people. Beer lovers openly snigger at wine aficionados. Crypto-believers think the entire world is regressive, iPhone guys consider Android guys an embarrassment, night-persons believe morning-persons as too boring to be lived with, coffee-lovers think tea-drinkers lack refinement, why there’s even a division between people based on how they eat a pizza. People who eat the crust first are frowned upon as absolute weirdoes. Today, a fascist is no different from a fan.
While these new divisions are cropping up by the hour, the age-old ones are seeing renewed disruptions. While vegetarians were holding steadfast to the morality fort, a new entrant called vegans are challenging them to it, making for a formidable opponent to both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. Notedly, eggitarians continue to remain on the fringe. Politically, the divisions in Wings are kicking up some serious dust, the world over. The focus lately being on the migratory ones. Gender-wise, men are officially the scum of the planet; and sexuality-wise, the classification is so nuanced that it will probably require neuro-surgery in the coming years to understand it. And of course, the chasm between the rich and the poor is expanding minus any scope for bridges across it. Now, these have all been differences for ages and a whole lot more remains to be tapped by social media. But what is this whole creation if not these flavoured differences! The sorry and scary part, however, is our penchant for patronising these differences. Our idiocy to attach unwarranted importances to them. Our instinct to latch on to these. To make ourselves a part of it. And our refusal to let go of these when the contexts and reasons and utility have long moved on. And with growing technological connectivity, it is only leading to an increasingly binary outlook on life.
Earlier, if not anything else, one resigned to the differences among each other. They knew, after all, it is with these town people, or relatives, or friends or neighbours they had to live with. Options were scarce. Now with global connectivity, you can find your tribe (or even ‘vibe’ as they call it) in thousands. Now who has the patience to suffer the differences when seemingly like-minded (or ‘like-vibed’) people are so within reach. This also seemingly gives them an opportunity to vent out the piling frustration. In my opinion, the key reason why often differences find the easy and lazy expression of hate and violence, is that people are simply frustrated. By their mundane lives — jobs, loans, families, growing expenses and expectations, depleting resources and time. Now they can’t express this all the time on their families or bosses or friends. But the frustration steam has to blow out. And it comes out on Strangers of Differences. They could be a threat all right, but they for sure make for great punching bags.
You think all this is an exaggeration on my part? Just open Bumble and see the profiles of people. It is full of people proclaiming themselves to be proud of this or that, and they expect their future mates to be part of the same mundane details. The same things which are not even worth second thoughts, let alone be the fundamentals basis which you choose people in your life. If you are a cat-person, you must be mean! So swipe left. Oh, you like some obscure line which some obscure character says in some obscure comic strip, great! let’s swipe right and have babies together!
This increasing binary-ness is fast snowballing into a juggernaut, converting all it comes in contact with into binary products. Whether they like it or not. You just can’t be a perfectly fine person anymore. By which I mean a person let’s say who loves mornings but wakes up late and likes slapstick humour and Oscar-winning movies at the same time and who likes riding put prefers driving and who is an atheist but likes going to temples and who doesn’t like socialising but loves the outdoors and stuff like that. It’s too neutral. Too safe. Too diplomatic. In fact, the very reason for why the world is shit. Therefore if you don’t have the balls to classify yourself, here, let us do it. Hereon, you’re all “wusses” and then are pitted against the other binary, which in this case is the rest of the world. This is not fully the case yet, but we’re headed there.
To further illustrate the point, let me take the example of another classification. That of Millennials. Yep, apparently I’m one of them. Now, if it were a term used on me for census or some administrative purpose, I wouldn’t care. But now with this word with so many vague connotations and it’s ever addendum-ed list of associated qualities, I just don’t fit in or relate to or take pride in. It’s something just forced upon me. In fact, in many ways I’m more GenZ than majority of GenZ. But all my arguments and resistances are brushed aside with, if not anything concrete, an off-the-cuff on-the-spot quality, and thereby getting baptised yet again, for the umpteenth time. I really have no say. For all practical and social purposes (luckily, still largely only in the realm of the internet but it’s steadily spilling over) I’m a Millennial.
And by citing this example, I smartly arrive at the most immediately worrisome of all divisions — age or generational differences. Or in modern day words, Millennials and GenZ. Now this might seem an innocuous difference great for some social media banter. But this division is potentially the most dangerous one that’s brewing. And the context that’s making it that is the ecological state of our world — climate change, soil desertification, water stress, loss of biodiversity and what not. The whole bloody cycle is a mess. Now as it is evident, both by scientific data and good ‘ole common sense, we are merely decades away from multiple ecological disasters. (Those who are in denial have probably haven’t left their cushioned chairs at equipped desks in their air conditioned rooms for maybe years) These disasters mean the very lack of fundamentals — water, food, air. (Internet which many call a fundamental might be around but you can’t eat that) Now such a scenario is ripe for anarchy. And when the primary massacres are done by the primary divisions, that of resource haves and have-nots, and when there’s the following temporary sense of “cease-fire”, the blame-games will begin. There will be an insurmountable need to find the “enemy”. There has to be a punching bag for all of this heart-breaking frustration. And it won’t be a religion or a caste or a gender. It’ll be the previous generation. It’ll be the Millennials. For in the eyes of the inheritors of this shit world, the GenZ, the Millennials will be responsible for all of it. The dumb scumbags who went on with their greed like there’s no tomorrow. Pun intended. Now of course, the truth is not as simple as that. But do you think you can have an objective argument with someone whose life is hell, stomach is empty and the future non-existent? They would need instant justice. And that would be by bashing the Millennials. The bashing is presently solidifying greatly on the internet for even the trivial most of reasons, and when the reasons get real, the bashing too will. Perhaps, the surviving Millennials will still hold some positions of power in the society, still be resource richer, but the GenZ threat will always be looming large. Thirsty not only for water but for some Millennial blood. The GenZ at home would be your only safety. Without them by your side, a lone millennial on the street is as good as meat. But even in the safety of your home, do you think it would be a pleasant experience? Do you think there would be dining table chatter? It would be jibes and barks, a constant blaming of you and suffering of you. You could try sitting down and defend your position, heck, even blame it on the Boomers, but they won’t listen. You will be the one doing all the listening. And as for the Boomers, they won’t be around to defend themselves.
Perhaps many of the other divisions could collapse in this dark reality. Gods will have even lesser relevance, no two hoots will be given about your political ideology. The struggle for fundamentals could miraculously eradicate even age-old divisions, and the faces of Millennials could unite them all in common hatred. This may not be a unified global phenomenon. Nations would perhaps continue to fight, even more bitterly. But in the silos of such larger systems, Millennial Murders could be a common phenomenon across the globe.
Soon thereafter when the temporary peace breaks, and the fight for limited resources renews, the Millennials will be the first to be made to exit. Not with a heavy heart because they are the older ones, but with great relish because they are the responsible ones.
So, in sight of such times ahead, what could we do? Fundamentally, there are two things. First one, because we Millennials are presently in the position of running the world, make urgent decisions to avoid or mitigate the awaiting disasters. Second, break out of this identity-forming behaviour. Because to solve problems of such massive scale will require the co-operation of all. Yes, even the ones who eat their pizzas crust first.
And for those who think all of this rests on one big lie that there’s an impending ecological calamity, well, carry on. If you will survive it, it’ll only be to be GenZ’s dinner.
