The Lost Generation

Man, I see in fight club the strongest and smartest men who’ve ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need. We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War’s a spiritual war… our Great Depression is our lives. We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won’t. And we’re slowly learning that fact. And we’re very, very pissed off. -Tyler Durden

Words to live by. I love Fight Club. It’s the one book I’ve read over and over again and I still love. I relate to it so much. All along I’ve known Tyler was talking about me. He was telling me not to fall into the trap of commercialism and chasing the American dream. I knew that he was telling me not to place my identity in the expectations of others.

We are the lost generation. Today, we out number the baby boomers, but we are stuck. Most of the GEN Y’s sit in a purgatory of identity and self-fulfillment. We get through high school watching MTV with a 2.9 GPA. We get accepted to college, earn a BA in communications or psychology. Then what??

Nothing… you spend your days stuffing money under the mattress to retire at 67 and take your family on a vacation once a year.

FUUUUCCCKKKKK THAAAATTTTT

Call me crazy, but I feel like this whole stability thing is stupid.

The sad part is that we could easily be THE GREATEST generation that ever was. We are armed with speed and information. What we are lacking is desire, commitment and courage.

The truth is education isn’t what it used to be. The ones in my generation that get ahead all understand this. I’m not saying that education isn’t valuable, it just isn’t necessary any more. The only thing that is necessary is action. It is the inaction of the GEN Y’s that make us the lost generation. It is the dependency on a system that wants us to be sheep. It is designed to create workers, not leaders. Leaders do… that’s the only difference. All the charisma and flamboyancy and aura behind leaders is an illusion. The successful men and women of my generation (and of every generation) will be remembered simply because they had the balls to do something, when everyone else waited for something to happen.

We are past the days of social security and 30 year mortgage plans. The fact is that if you want something, you just have to get it. No one is going to help you. No one is going to give you anything. It upsets me because there has never been a generation with more resources then ours. But I find this country jam packed with 25 year old yuppy hipsters who are just waiting for “their big break.” It’s not going to happen.

This isn’t about individual success. This isn’t about this person having more money or this person having a nicer car. This is about who you are. This is about the day you look back at your life and you say to yourself “I wish I took more risks.” You might not get much sleep, but you will be fulfilled. Instead of taking risks we hit our 9 to 5 and eat microwavable dinners when we get home and watch The fucking Voice.

You have everything you need. You can learn how to do anything with the resources that we have. My generation is the largest population in history and we are swarming into the system like worker bees. Do something worth fighting for. What do you believe in? What do you want?

You want to start a business. OK, it costs $140 to incorporate and there are hundreds of tutorials on building websites. You want to impact human rights? OK – then buy a damn microphone and start talking to people. You want to be in better shape? OK – then stop eating McDonald’s and go to the fucking gym.

The simple truth is that we can do whatever we want. We can change things. We are too fast and too smart for anyone to even keep up. But we don’t. We play it safe. We play defense in life and get frustrated when we don’t score.

We could be history’s greatest generation. We just need to wake up. We need to stop buzzing around the hive and do something for ourselves. The world is counting on us. In another ten years the baby boomers will be dead. It’s up to us to carry the torch. Doesn’t that burn you? Doesn’t that light a fire in you and get you pissed off that we still live in this fear driven land of insecurity? Enough! Stop gabbing and stop signing Facebook petitions and dumping water on your head and do something. Get in someones face. Be heard. Use the speed and the information that is available to all of us. If not, then we will be the lost generation after all. It will be the blind leading the blind to no where.

Not me.