LIMBO NO.5
Being in your mid twenties, entering a recession and unable to get on the property ladder; I feel a certain pull towards chaos. There’s no stability available, so I might as well do the exact opposite and jump into a vortex of uncertainty and anarchy.
I definitely feel a void and lack of romance within my world and surroundings. I only use the world for its gritty basics - commuting, going to Tesco's, running for a train. I never move with passion anymore. I'm not enjoying and absorbing, I'm simply sprinting and trying to keep up.
There's a stillness that comes with stability, and I am yet to experience it. The way the world turns since covid, has just thrown everyone’s everything up in the air. Stability is a privilege at this point.
I think the main thing I have taken from the past five years is that there is no rush or panic. Some people go travelling, some focus on career, some are already married with kids. There’s no order or finish line.
I think it’s so ok to play each year by ear and just go for it. I’ve been working since 15 and at 24 I am in no better financial position than I was then. Living in London means you can just about squeeze by each month, but you do it because it’s fun.
However, I still feel so angry about many issues in the world; to the point where it feels too overwhelming to even act on them. Having the time and energy to work full time, but also to campaign and riot against the wrongs in the world is tough. The government has pushed us all to the point of exhaustion, I don’t think anyone has the energy to shout back anymore, we just accept each bad hand and are encouraged to trust the government.
It’s laughable how bad the hands Gen Z have been dealt. I truly think their only way to escape is to distract themselves online where everyone else moaning and suffering too. That’s the sense of community that is no longer present in person.
Twenty years ago, the only way young people could have their voices heard was by shouting and striking in the streets. Nobody has the energy to scream into the void anymore, thus Tik tok and Twitter has become the void, but sadly those screams aren’t monitored or heard by the people who need to hear it.
Yes we all complain online about the monarchy, tuition fees or cost of living crisis, but we are no longer reaching the government in the way we should be. Most days I will get a news alert with another depressing headline that impacts my near future in a negative way. The constant flooding of negativity is just too mentally exhausting. It’s become normal to not be able to afford housing, food and very normal everyday things.
Our frustration gets turned into memes or sadistic jokes because if we don’t laugh; we will be crying for the next 30 years.
However, no action can come from this way of channeling our thoughts and frustrations. We need to take it back to the old school ways and take notes from the french. We really have nothing to lose at this point- they can’t make the prices any higher, we already can’t get on the housing ladder, they can’t make us have an even worse quality of life. Might as well cause some havoc.
The next part is where it’s hard, which issues are priority?? we have let the UK get to such a dire point I wouldn’t even know where to start. In no particular order….
- Cost of living
- Brexit
- Climate change
- The NHS
- Housing crisis
- Trans rights
- Racism
- The MET
- Tuition fees and repayment
- Migrant crisis
- The monarchy
- Workers pay and rights
- Women’s safety
The list goes on, but notice how many of those end in “rights” something that SHOULD be a given. I feel so so passionately about every issue above, I never know where or what to channel that passion into.
We are in such a position of privilege compared to a lot of countries - but I think how hard the general public works for the bare basics means we have a poorer quality of life. For example, so many single mothers work just to be able to afford nursery and cover childcare costs- it’s brutal and unfair.
This is where the anger and push back from the younger generations comes for the monarchy. It’s the people over 40 that ‘love and treasure’ the monarchy, yet they were the ones who got to attend university for free and buy a house for £70,000. We are not the same.
We do not want the billions that the coronation cost tax payers, going towards gross displays of wealth while children are starving. It’s tone deaf and ignorant for people in positions of stability and privilege to force it down our throats and demand we celebrate. There is nothing about this country to celebrate and there is no way I will be hanging the flag from my windows.
I keep reading arguments saying it only cost us £1.28 each for the coronation, but I never consented to the money going on golden carriages and badly organised horses, that should be going to the NHS and improving our local areas. Tampin, ragin, FUMING.
I can’t be negative as the world is an amazing place, but I think it’s time the generations get angry and cause a bit of havoc. ANYWAY
List of lovely things in a depressing world:
1. Good cinema
2. Flowers and nature
3. Animals
4. Marvin Gaye and Greentea Peng in the sunshine
5. Scented candles and incense
6. Fresh fruit
7. Speaker in the park weather
8. Summer in London
9. Princess Diaries 3 is being made
10. I am taller than Rishi Sunak
11. Old people holding hands
12. Dancing naked
