THE LAST PRODUCTIVE GENERATION
Before I start this article, I believe I must
apologise to the reader for being inactive for over a year. I have let the dust
settle on this website for too long, but moving forward I certainly plan on
being active and speaking my mind out about more and more interesting topics.
If you’ve seen my Life Blog previously, you know that I have a knack for always setting the stage as ‘oldies vs new kids’ and I’ve rather taken an admonishing stance against the older generation. I’ve tried to change people’s minds about the younger generation (specifically Gen Z) and how we’re actually smarter than everyone else. Well, in case my propoganda didn’t work on you so far, I’m sure it will in this article.
On the not-so-rare occasions when I end up scrolling
on Instagram and see what the internet is going on about, I find a lot of
discussions on how the Gen Z kids are trying to fit into society. In case
anyone needs a mathematical update, Gen Z is the age range born between 1997
and 2012. I fall somewhere in between and therefore, I can see and relate with
the discussions that go on about my ‘people’ online. Apparently we’re really
tech-savvy, financially aware and value driven. Although we’re also socially awkward
and really weak when it comes to mental health and workplace issues. But that
is not my topic for today. Today I plan to sort of balance my propaganda. I do
agree with my Boomer and Gen X Homo sapiens that my generation is in great
misery. But at the same time I also want to say, as a Gen Z, that it is not my
generation that is in danger. Rather, I would go as far as to say that the
1997-2012 is, and might as well be, the last productive generation.
When I was kid, we didn’t have LLMs making our
assignments for us. We didn’t have quick-commerce companies delivering goods to
us 24/7. We also did not have a very large ride-hailing culture, wherein you
could book a cab to go from anywhere to anywhere at any time.
God forbid I forget to bring the chart paper from the
stationary shop for the school project due next day. My parents would
definitely berate me for not planning everything beforehand. And then my dad
would rush to find any stationary shop that would be open, just to get a single
sheet of chart paper.
But in 2025, if my younger cousin (Gen Alpha) forgets
chart paper, we don’t have to move any of our muscles except the right thumb to
click on ‘ORDER NOW’. Where is the forethought that “If I have a project
tomorrow, I need to get all my stuff from the shop in the evening so that at
night, before going to sleep, I can start working on the prerequisites, SO that,
tomorrow when I go to school, I can spend 60% of my time on the project, and
the rest 40% on making it look beautiful.”
Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not playing the blame
glame by pointing out parenting techniques, or the ‘issue with the system’. I
am just pondering over the lack of organizational skills and the ability to
plan accordingly.
10 years ago, if I had to write about the Maratha
Empire for my history homework, I had to search up the internet, open 10
different websites, correlate it with my textbook, correlate it with my class
notes, and then write the answer in an appealing way which would be a mixture
of everything put together. Today, all the kids need to do, is write one small
prompt. The effort is greatly reduced, but has the productivity increased or
decreased?
I also strongly believe that the internet was a much
safer space back in 2012. Maybe I am wrong. But if you think about it, there
were lesser ads on YouTube, there wasn’t really an algorithm that could track
your videos, social media was used just for photos and funny cat videos.
Again, I could be wrong, but just humour me for a
moment. Back in my days, we only had 1 app for social media and that was
Facebook. And before Facebook, people used MySpace. I am not saying that those
apps were 100% safe. But they were certainly less focused on the monetary and
algorithmic aspect of things. There were less people spreading hatred online.
And the major reason for that was –
1.
Very few social media apps existed.
Twitter had a 140 character limit, Facebook was used for mostly life updates
and Instagram was extremely new
2.
Not many people had smartphones. A
lot of people still owned blackberries and flip phones
Another reason why I feel that Gen Alpha (the ones
born after 2012) are less productive is because of social media. There are just
too many apps now. You can’t even begin to count them. And every single one of
them is being exposed to the youth, which is simply unnecessary. Because of the
increase in smartphones purchase and social media exposure, harrassment trends
have increased. Cyberbullying, racism, sexism, you name it, we got it!
I believe at this point, I sound like an old uncle
complaining about today’s kids. But if I am being honest, I sort of agree with
the oldies on this one. Back in my day, if I wanted to go from place A to place
B, I had to either do some labor and find out which BEST buses run on this
route, or which train station is the nearest. Sure, sometimes I could also just
abandon it all and take an auto-rickshaw or a kaali-peeli.
Today the entire scenario has been changed with the
oncoming of ride-hailing services platform. You don’t need to figure out which
bus goes where, you don’t have to muster up the courage to approach a stranger
for buying tickets or asking for the route, and neither do you have to stand in
line regardless of the weather. Sure, it has made life luxurious but has it
made us productive? Maybe it has, maybe it hasn’t.
My point is, Gen Z has gone through the early stages
of the ultra-modern age where your motor skills were still very much required.
You had to get up and catch a train. You had to stand in lines to pay the
bills. You had to have a good hold over your math to pay the shopkeeper the
fair price. You weren’t constantly destroying your eyes by being on the iPad.
And most importantly, you had to remember to pick up the chart paper on your
way home.
Things have changed, times have changed. Yes, my generation may suck in some areas. But
at least we got to experience a little productivity during our childhood.
Ultimately, no one knows what the future holds. Did
this last bit of decaying productivity actually help the Gen Z? Or is it better
to live in luxury like the Gen Alpha? Only time will tell.
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