Gen Zers are turning to ‘radical rest,’ delusional thinking, and self-indulgence as they struggle to cope with late-stage capitalism

fadingembers , 6 months ago

It’s wild seeing a finance column mention late stage capitalism let alone headline it

PugJesus , 6 months ago

Increasingly popular with Gen Z audiences, manifestation content has also spread rapidly on platforms like TikTok and Instagram­—the latest iteration of the “law of attraction” that promotes the use of “positive frequencies” and “delusional thinking” to attract wealth and prosperity into one’s life. Rather than claw their way up the corporate ladder or surreptitiously stash away money for the future, practices like project 129 and the 3-6-3 method emphasize positive thinking and visualization to achieve personal and financial goals.

Yeah, no, that was big when I was young too, and when my mother was young, and when my grandparents were young it was called prayer, and so on.

osarusan , 6 months ago

Yeah the author lists these things unironically like we didn't grow up with daily horoscopes in the newspaper, and TV psychics, and church.

Young people turn to magical thinking disguised as scientific practice because they're still young and haven't experienced every type of predatory pseudoscience yet. What's the excuse for the older generations who are completely immersed in and even promote this kind of con?

Coskii , 6 months ago

The goal posts have finally gotten high enough that most folks starting out likely won’t make past the starting position… And when things look that bleak, the only winning move is to not play the game. It’s shocking that the ones who write these articles are so out of touch with the world as it is now for those just entering adulthood with little to nothing given to the appears.

I’m completely unable to purchase property with a mortgage, and it’s not a lack of supply, it’s a lack of owners willing to deal with mortgage holder as opposed to someone who just has cash. I’ve increased my offers to 30% over asking, higher down-payments, waiving inspections… I doesn’t matter.

atzanteol , 6 months ago

a time of global societal uncertainty

Oh yeah, I remember those halcyon days when we didn’t have global uncertainty.

I accept that gen z may be struggling more than those before them. But breathless articles like this make it seem like it was all unicorn farts and rainbows in the past.

FlyingSquid , 6 months ago

A recent study by Fidelity Investments found that 45% of people aged 18 to 35 “don’t see a point in saving until things return to normal.” In that same age group, 55% said they put retirement planning on hold during the pandemic.

Who are all these 18-35 people who have retirement plans? Where did they poll these people from?

alilbee , 6 months ago

I mean, I’m one of them. There is a pretty significant number of 25-35 years old professionals who start banking into retirement almost immediately.

FlyingSquid , 6 months ago

How significant?

lurch , 6 months ago

5

FlyingSquid , 6 months ago

I mean the article suggests it’s 55% of people 18-35. Do you really think that’s true?

odium , 6 months ago

In the US at least, many large employers automatically create 401ks or IRA’s for their employees and contribute a portion of your paycheck to it.

After I graduated college, my first job created a 401k and started putting 1% of my paycheck into it without telling me. The job didn’t let me set it to 0%, forcing me to research 401ks and retirement planning. This led me to raise it to 15% and start investing.

FlyingSquid , 6 months ago

Okay, but come on, 55% of people that age have a 401k or IRA? How many people under 30 even have a job that pays well enough to offer that sort of benefit? Jobs pay shit these days.

alilbee , 6 months ago

I think you’re really underestimating how many 25-35 year olds work for large corps. And you’ve got it reversed. The big corp jobs are the only ones paying wll enough to escape that treadmill. Sucks, I would love to work for some local mom and pop, but FAANG can double or triple the salaries of what they can offer. Most of my peers that I have talked to are in a similar boat.

And again, we all get retirement accounts in the first couple of weeks of employment. That’s been the case since I worked at comparitively much smaller companies even.

FlyingSquid , 6 months ago

Well as I said below, I would like some evidence for it beyond this poll.

alilbee , 6 months ago

Here ya go. The gov puts it at about 50% for about the same age group.

FlyingSquid , 6 months ago

Ok, fair enough. Thank you.

alilbee , 6 months ago

Absolutely. Any corporate employer is going to auto-enroll you into setting up and paying into a retirement account. Any post-college age group is going to have similar numbers. That would be my guess anyway.

FlyingSquid , 6 months ago

I would absolutely like some evidence that 55% of people 18-35 have retirement savings beyond this poll.

Sabata11792 , 6 months ago

My retirement plan is "die when I can't afford to be cozy".

BraveSirZaphod , 6 months ago

Pretty much everyone I went to college with, though I won't pretend that's a representative sample at all due to the college in question.

Still, there's a lot of tech and finance workers out there.