Millenial Rage

Let’s cut to the chase—I’m a millenial, and I have a few thoughts.

I’m in the unemployed millenial camp, because the industry I was in previously (and in which I did my degrees), has been so devastated by the pandemic and by conservative austerity policies, that I had to jump ship when it started really sinking last autumn.

Even still, I’ve been applying for a new role for years now, and keeping all of my options open to any field where my skills might be transferable. I don’t want to limit myself, but I’m also trying to be ruthlessly realistic, and only apply to things where I think I could actually do the job.

Seeing as how I’m still looking, maybe I’m doing this all wrong.

But one thing I do know is that after ten years in higher education, and working in the arts/heritage sector, I have lots of skills—but they seem to be the skills no one wants. Or rather, no one values. Not really anyway.

These so-called ‘soft skills’, where you can’t quantify them, you can’t analyse them, you don’t even really have a portfolio you can link to and share. But if you need a project managed, I can do it. If you need a topic researched, I can do it. If you need an articulate and well-reasoned article on a particular subject, I can do it. If you need an engaging presentation on said topic, I can also do it. If you need me to lead a tour group, sing a song, write a poem, or tell a fascinating historical fact relevant to the discussion, I can do it.

Is any of this worth anything in today’s late-stage capitalist pandemic hellscape?

Not really, no.

Which is a damn shame, because I think we need more heart, more empathy, more stories that make people care enough to act. We need a better world, and it’s not going to come about through soulless STEM jobs and relying on the magical free market to save us.

We need critical thinking, and visual analysis, and actionable plans for change informed by our history. Everyone knows the saying ‘those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it’, and yet no one wants to learn the history. Everyone is so harried and crushed and stressed and struggling these days, fighting over the scraps that we’ve been thrown, that we can’t even muster the energy to fight back as our planet is being actively destroyed.

I may not understand the arcane bullshit that makes up the stock market, but I do know how to start a conversation with a customer and ensure they have a positive experience. I know how to argue persuasively and diplomatically. I know how to write a newsletter that might perk up someone’s day. I know how to analyse a work of art or literature from the past, and connect it to our lives today.

I hope someday we’ll all collectively value humans again, instead of reduce them to only their monetary value.

I hope someday art and science will be equally appreciated, because we need both, if we want our grandchildren to have any kind of world when we’re gone.

I’m a millenial, and a cynical one at that, ever since the rug was pulled out from underneath me and my generation, and because I’ve had depression and anxiety since I was probably ten years old. We’re all trying our best in the society we’ve been burdened with—and some of us have been given a head start—but it all needs to change. It has to. And it won’t change unless our priorities change.

I think these ‘soft skills’ will save us, if only they’re given a chance. An opportunity. A voice.

I’m a millenial, with weak hope, but hope nonetheless. I’m also filled with rage.

I know there are terabytes of think pieces written by my generation about our plight, about our struggles, and they’re (mostly) all valid. I agree that we’ve been dealt the worst hand in recent times, since it’s up to us to fix the mistakes of our parents and grandparents, and yet they’ve raided the fridge and emptied the toolbox and set fire to the house, and the bank too. So what are we to do?

How can we move forward when we’re still reeling from the past year, the past decade? How can we envision a better future when we’re all fighting to even find a reason to live today?

I wish I had answers. All I know is my anger is all-consuming on some days, because even if I had ideas for how to fix things, I have no real power to do it. None of us do really. We have only our own abilities in our own tiny worlds, and our choices, like whether we decide to help or hurt others. Everything feels so broken, so hopeless, that we have to zoom in on such a small scale, and take it one thing at a time, one day at a time, otherwise it’s too overwhelming. At least, that’s how I feel.

And I’m speaking from a place of enormous privilege, so my despair is nothing compared to what is everyday life for so many people. I know that realising only recently just how fucked up everything is, is also a huge privilege in and of itself. And I want to use it to do something, to help, somehow.

I’ve found that in my darkest moments, writing and rambling and thinking out loud on the page have helped me, even if only to vent all the pent up rage and frustration. So here is my contribution, for what it’s worth.

I only hope we can all find a way through, if not for our generations’ sake, then those coming after us. It’s the least we can do.