The future of Gen Z

[God of Nothing]

most issues with gen z are just the previous generations, fuck up after fuck up, wondering why they care more about some head sticking out of a toilet than fixing their mess
why bother caring when there's nothing you can do until decades have passed, nothing in it for you, and is ultimately for someone (not related to you in any way whatsoever) else?
zoomers mock caring about anything because they'd be depressed and miserable if they did

 

[Doktor Grimm]

Every mall I've been to banned under 18s from being there without adults on evenings and weekends.

Same. Had good activity hit one of our local malls, now no one under 18 can be there without an adult.

Wow are you guys Yanks? I've never been to a mall that wasn't occupied by a gang of rowdy teenagers or two (including myself and my friends up until not very long ago).

Now that I think about it, though, I always found malls to be a bit lame beyond their function as a Place To Go. If you're a kid, all there really is to do is mill around Target for a while and then leave without buying anything because you don't have disposable income. Makes me wonder what exactly made them that much better back in the day, or if that's just a myth perpetuated by old people who peaked in high school and zoomers with a distorted view of the 80s and 90s. then again, malls have been on the decline since i was old enough to go out on my own, so maybe i'll never ACTUALLY get it

 

[Basic Blond Boy]

Wow are you guys Yanks? I've never been to a mall that wasn't occupied by a gang of rowdy teenagers or two (including myself and my friends up until not very long ago).

Illinois, decently South of Chicago. The gangs have been moving downwards and there was a gang shoot-out in one of the local malls. Now the malls have police at the entrance to check for unattended kids.

Now that I think about it, though, I always found malls to be a bit lame beyond their function as a Place To Go. If you're a kid, all there really is to do is mill around Target for a while and then leave without buying anything because you don't have disposable income. Makes me wonder what exactly made them that much better back in the day, or if that's just a myth perpetuated by old people who peaked in high school and zoomers with a distorted view of the 80s and 90s. then again, malls have been on the decline since i was old enough to go out on my own, so maybe i'll never ACTUALLY get it

Malls used to have multiple functions, some have rides and arcades to mess around in, along with some public areas. They have definitely lost much of that though as the internet age kicked in. Some are still going strong, while others are just multiple stores, a lot of which are closed now.

 

[PeachDream]

Illinois, decently South of Chicago. The gangs have been moving downwards and there was a gang shoot-out in one of the local malls. Now the malls have police at the entrance to check for unattended kids.

Malls used to have multiple functions, some have rides and arcades to mess around in, along with some public areas. They have definitely lost much of that though as the internet age kicked in. Some are still going strong, while others are just multiple stores, a lot of which are closed now.

It also feels like the portion of stores that are just for clothing has creeped upward. And other stores don't stay in business long.
At my mall there used to be a NASCAR store, and a radio shack, and a toys R us, a discovery channel store, a laser tag arena, etc.

Brick and mortar stores in general aren't having a good time.
It's tangentially led to Gen Zers being more introverted. I've sincerely heard multiple people say they need self-checkout because they don't like the idea of the cashier talking to them unsolicited or judging them based on their purchases.

 

[Basic Blond Boy]

At my mall there used to be a NASCAR store, and a radio shack, and a toys R us, a discovery channel store, a laser tag arena, etc.

Yeah, I have see this too. For me, Toys R Us is sill around, but it is some small center in the middle of Macy’s.

Brick and mortar stores in general aren't having a good time.
It's tangentially led to Gen Zers being more introverted. I've sincerely heard multiple people say they need self-checkout because they don't like the idea of the cashier talking to them unsolicited or judging them based on their purchases.

I have heard the opposite for game stores in particular. Used game/DVD market is apparently still going strong, and I have yet to see closure of any in my area. At worst, I believe GameStop has less hours operating, opening at 12pm instead of 9am.

Otherwise, yeah, the stores that last are primarily clothes stores with maybe other things on the side.

 

[cocko]

It's so over.

 

[Medic]

Illinois, decently South of Chicago. The gangs have been moving downwards and there was a gang shoot-out in one of the local malls. Now the malls have police at the entrance to check for unattended kids.

Malls used to have multiple functions, some have rides and arcades to mess around in, along with some public areas. They have definitely lost much of that though as the internet age kicked in. Some are still going strong, while others are just multiple stores, a lot of which are closed now.

Shopping centers where I am from don't really get infested by Gen Alpa/Gen Z brain rot behavior too much but have been on an incline for me. I mainly shop there and other shopping centers cause its more covenant and since its based outside rather then in an inside environment. The atmosphere doesn't seem fake or undermining to most people but warm in a way since half of them are local businesses, I know I sound like a faggot typing this way but I just like shopping centers rather than malls. If that's not your thing, personally I suggest the flea market of any kind. I just went there today and saw a 35 dollar bowie knife in good condition. I'm probably going to go there Saturday morning to see what I can find at a great deal.

 

[Audit]

Gen z in my experience just rolls over and accepts the status quo like they're practicing the world's most retarded form of stoicism. The lockdown has totally buckbroken most of us.

Gen Z seems strangely accepting of the media message. It's like they live in a world with no fixed constants. Whatever has been most recently said by an authoritative source is the new Truth. Then again, I see this same behavior from liberal boomers as well, so maybe this is really a symptom of progressivism and not really a generational thing.

Aside, insofar as meeting people and doing things, Gen Z is extremely reliant on apps and pre-planned activities. They have a serious fear of randomly introducing themselves to strangers in public places. The higher up in academia/education you go the worse it gets.

 

[Ravier Xavenblood]

Aside, insofar as meeting people and doing things, Gen Z is extremely reliant on apps and pre-planned activities. They have a serious fear of randomly introducing themselves to strangers in public places. The higher up in academia/education you go the worse it gets.

I never attended any higher levels of college but I've noticed that there's a cosmopolitan subset of gen z that's completely dependent on apps for everything. It's their version of the yuppies. Which makes dating and socializing as a young professional a pain in the ass. My GF never went to a proper college and all the people I game with are millenials.

In mixed generation TTRPG groups I've been in, the millenials were always chill (and the majority) while the zoomers only really played the game and then fucked back off to their discord cliques once the game was over. It's really weird. It's like no one under the age of 26 wants to do things outside a scheduled activity. Socializing as a Zillenial has been an... experience.

 

[ImNotAnEGirlUWU]

As someone else who comes from the Gen Z perspective I can’t say for sure but I will say that it does seem like Gen Z is the first generation that’s really just getting sick of all the BS and Gen Alpha will probably be even more sick of it. You have no idea how many videos there are of teenagers saying stuff like “is life really worth it?” And talking about how hopeless they are and how done they are with everything, and most of them are no older than like 16. I get it’s not much new because emo kids have been around for a while but this is different, it’s not LARPing, there’s videos of Zoomers absolutely sobbing and crying their eyes out on TikTok about how they think life is pointless, on YouTube it’s a much more quiet subculture but I still get recommended many videos of Zoomers just sounding exhausted and depressed and how they’re struggling. Doomers are on the rise for sure. There is a spiritual side to Gen Z that I’ve seen and many of them are looking for some kind of answer and a way to navigate through it all. They also live in an era of advancing technology and many of them fear it but lots of them use it as basically their only hope, which is a common attitude. I think some are also turning to spirituality (like new age stuff) to be able to navigate all the weird stuff that’s happening. I’ve seen a strange amount of them getting into conspiracy related circles as well. I don’t think anyone can say for sure if Gen Z will become mostly nihilistic doomers or if they’ll be part of some revolution that saves society, it’s a case where we have to wait and see. I do hope Gen Z one day manages to figure it all out but given how badly the prior generations fucked everything up it’s a hope I’d recommend being cautious with, it’s also possible they just give up and the next generation is even more miserable

 

[namvata]

Gen z incel crisis will be solved when all the gen alpha iPad kids turn 18 and you can rizz them up by approaching them, saying "gedagadegedagadago", and watch a cocomelon spiderman and elsa video together.

 

[Ravier Xavenblood]

It feels like half of the older zoomers I see are married and with kids while the other half like me got ass raped by the atomization of society.

 

[WickyWickyWoW]

As someone else who comes from the Gen Z perspective I can’t say for sure but I will say that it does seem like Gen Z is the first generation that’s really just getting sick of all the BS and Gen Alpha will probably be even more sick of it. You have no idea how many videos there are of teenagers saying stuff like “is life really worth it?” And talking about how hopeless they are and how done they are with everything, and most of them are no older than like 16. I get it’s not much new because emo kids have been around for a while but this is different, it’s not LARPing, there’s videos of Zoomers absolutely sobbing and crying their eyes out on TikTok about how they think life is pointless, on YouTube it’s a much more quiet subculture but I still get recommended many videos of Zoomers just sounding exhausted and depressed and how they’re struggling. Doomers are on the rise for sure. There is a spiritual side to Gen Z that I’ve seen and many of them are looking for some kind of answer and a way to navigate through it all. They also live in an era of advancing technology and many of them fear it but lots of them use it as basically their only hope, which is a common attitude. I think some are also turning to spirituality (like new age stuff) to be able to navigate all the weird stuff that’s happening. I’ve seen a strange amount of them getting into conspiracy related circles as well. I don’t think anyone can say for sure if Gen Z will become mostly nihilistic doomers or if they’ll be part of some revolution that saves society, it’s a case where we have to wait and see. I do hope Gen Z one day manages to figure it all out but given how badly the prior generations fucked everything up it’s a hope I’d recommend being cautious with, it’s also possible they just give up and the next generation is even more miserable

Everything you just said, specifically the searching for spirituallity, doomerism, and conspiracy theories (I presume plausible to schizo and everything between) is giving me a sense that many of these youngins will be prime prey for aspiring cult leaders, think branch davidians or aum shinrikyo, hopefully nowhere as absolutely extreme as the aforementioned but you can never be sure what dark places the hopeless fall into, and cults can do some absolutely vile shit even if it doesn't end as massively as waco or Tokyo

 

[Toji Suzuhara]

Everything you just said, specifically the searching for spirituallity, doomerism, and conspiracy theories (I presume plausible to schizo and everything between) is giving me a sense that many of these youngins will be prime prey for aspiring cult leaders, think branch davidians or aum shinrikyo, hopefully not as absolutely extreme as the affornentioned but you can never be sure what dark places the hopeless fall into.

Cult leaders, you say? Do you think that someone could make a successful cult out of NGE? But being more serious, at least in the West, I don't see many cults originating in the traditional sense, of people banding together and building a commune in the middle of nowhere. What I can see is more of a digital sort of cult, not unlike what the psychos at the Yesterweb did, communicating through Discord/more segmented social media platforms and endlessly degenerating and radicalizing as the lose contact with reality, you could say that that's what happening right now on AF, with many groypers openly embracing all manner of degeneracy and deviant behavior

 

[WickyWickyWoW]

Cult leaders, you say? Do you think that someone could make a successful cult out of NGE? But being more serious, at least in the West, I don't see many cults originating in the traditional sense, of people banding together and building a commune in the middle of nowhere. What I can see is more of a digital sort of cult, not unlike what the psychos at the Yesterweb did, communicating through Discord/more segmented social media platforms and endlessly degenerating and radicalizing as the lose contact with reality, you could say that that's what happening right now on AF, with many groypers openly embracing all manner of degeneracy and deviant behavior

When I think of cults I think of total control of the involved members, financial physical and essentially mind control. Your labor and efforts go to the cult, deviation is punished, your children are raised by the cult, simply seeing your family is over the line, your identity as a person is subsumed into the cult, and next thing you know your helping to intimidate people or perhaps a murder here and there. Granted thats probably at the extreme end but even a fraction of that is pretty heinous

I consider grifters like the groypers to be a bunch of no life fags running the down syndrome version of a cult, and that description is giving them more credit then they ought to deserve. Imagine if sharty users tried taking themselves seriously. However my previous description if knocked down a few notches matches the bizarre ends of troonism, from preying to the awkward and alone to changing of your identity and person to spreading this mind virus to other hosts. Thinking about it more the zoomer version of a cult may be a bit more politically and secularly aligned, I don't see a massive explosion of religion on the horizon but by God they will find something else to fill that religion shaped hole in their head.

 

[Toji Suzuhara]

When I think of cults I think of total control of the involved members, financial physical and essentially mind control. Your labor and efforts go to the cult, deviation is punished, your children are raised by the cult, simply seeing your family is over the line, your identity as a person is subsumed into the cult, and next thing you know your helping to intimidate people or perhaps a murder here and there. Granted thats probably at the extreme end but even a fraction of that is pretty heinous

I can see it, but in a more indirect way. As many a gen z'er is not the type of guy who's mostly normal but has suffered a series of tragedies back-to-back, and then a charlatan with an IQ two standards deviations above the mean convinces them that if they join their support group everything will be alright. Many a gen z'er is broken, or at least atomized, they probably won't even notice that they ever joined a cult because they don't have a frame of reference for what normal social interaction is, for them, the cult is how society normally is. A lot don't interact with their family, nor have strong identities, nor have a long experience with employment. In that regard, most of the brainwashing is already done, you just have to put the information in, no trouble with having to make them foget about their past lives.

I consider grifters like the groypers to be a bunch of no life fags running the down syndrome version of a cult, and that description is giving them more credit then they ought to deserve. Imagine if sharty users tried taking themselves seriously. However my previous description if knocked down a few notches matches the bizarre ends of troonism, from preying to the awkward and alone to changing of your identity and person to spreading this mind virus to other hosts. Thinking about it more the zoomer version of a cult may be a bit more politically and secularly aligned, I don't see a massive explosion of religion on the horizon but by God they will find something else to fill that religion shaped hole in their head.

I think that what they do is how cults will be in gen z, because gen z, despite what many think, is not a generation of failures, but one of extremes. There's an upper quartile of gen z who's living the good life, financially, socially, romantically, you name it, and arounf 2/3rds that's in the gutter, cults won't try to target the upper quartile, because the sheer number and ease of manipulation that the bottom 66% has will make them much more appealing

 

[DSHK]

Yeah, it's getting more obvious that the American dream is just that: a dream. People leaving the US for Europe to find a better life is already happening. As far as I know US citizens living abroad still need to pay money to the IRS, and that just goes to show that the US government loves to act like the mob in more ways than one. You just want to avoid politics and go innawoods? Just look what happened to the Weaver family. You're an anti-establishment POTUS candidate like Trump? Let's weaponize the judicial system. You want to leave the country because you realize everything about it is built on a lie? We'll just send the IRS after you. And I doubt most Americans have a fuzzy feeling towards expats.

Im 25, early gen z. Everything i hate about the US is worse in europe. They have even more shit pay, higher taxes and bullshit regulations on everything. Europe is so up your ass that owning a car there has almost as much government bullshit attached to it as owning a small plane does in the US. Ive travelled a lot and europe is actually a massive downgrade from the US if youre not dirt poor and it would be almost impossible for someone whos dirt poor to move there anyway. Outside of the capitals and tourist traps it actually kinda sucks.

Every mall I've been to banned under 18s from being there without adults on evenings and weekends.
Arcades were replaced with video games at home.
Teen employments has been dropping for 20 years so less of them can afford to go anywhere.
Other 3rd places like your local polish community center or church revolve around ethnic or religious identity young people do not have.

If people do not grow up with these places, they'll just become accustomed to their non-existance.

Yeah because most of the under 18s now are ghetto spics and niggers, if you think americas demographics are bad now just wait 20 or 30 years when the majority of boomers have croaked and the current crop of newborns come of age

 

[Toji Suzuhara]

Yeah because most of the under 18s now are ghetto spics and niggers, if you think americas demographics are bad now just wait 20 or 30 years when the majority of boomers have croaked and the current crop of newborns come of age

Haven't malls as a whole been declining since like the late-90s? The demographics hadn't changed all that much by that point, and even then that would only affect historically less white areas, are places like the South or southern Texas experiencing a more rapid decline in malls?

 

[DSHK]

Cult leaders, you say? Do you think that someone could make a successful cult out of NGE? But being more serious, at least in the West, I don't see many cults originating in the traditional sense, of people banding together and building a commune in the middle of nowhere. What I can see is more of a digital sort of cult, not unlike what the psychos at the Yesterweb did, communicating through Discord/more segmented social media platforms and endlessly degenerating and radicalizing as the lose contact with reality, you could say that that's what happening right now on AF, with many groypers openly embracing all manner of degeneracy and deviant behavior

They already are cult members even if they dont know it yet. Reddit communities behave exactly like traditional cults do. Which is why so many lonely depressed autistic people become gay, trannies and furries. They use Reddit and Discord as a friend simulator and end up in these communities who are usually the first and only people to accept them.

Haven't malls as a whole been declining since like the late-90s? The demographics hadn't changed all that much by that point, and even then that would only affect historically less white areas, are places like the South or southern Texas experiencing a more rapid decline in malls?

Yeah, malls have been declining since the rise of home video game consoles and ecommerce. I live in alabama and my local mall is thriving but they do have a no unattended teenager(no niggers) policy and security is everywhere.

 

[Toji Suzuhara]

no unattended teenager

"Unaccompanied minors could be here"-he thought
"I hate unaccompanied minors"