The World You Were Raised to Survive In No Longer Exists

The School of Hard Knocks

The recent post on Generation Y drew a lot of comment. One of the most prominent questions pertained to why so many members of generations after X are seemingly unsalvageable. As Bruce Lee taught us, understanding the problem points to the solution. So let's examine Gen Y's besetting vice: terminal…
April 9, 202415 Comments
Generation Video Banner

Generation Video Grand Opening

OG readers will know that I have a soft spot for retro film review podcasts. Whether it's author JD Cowan's Cannon Cruisers or, to go all the way back, the late, great Drunken Zombie Podcast, listening in while a couple of guys talk 80s and 90s movies is a guilty…
April 5, 2024
Terrifying Plan

Gen Y: The Plan Is Terrifying

Longtime readers will know Generation Y as the gaslit generation. Baby Boomers instilled them with a false view of reality that left them unprepared to survive in the real world. As a result, the “mugged by reality” experience is a Gen Y touchstone. Now that Gen Y has hit middle…
April 4, 20249 Comments
Perverse Generation

Faithless and Perverse Generation

American members of Generation Z face overlapping crises of identity, faith, and general happiness, if recent reports are to be believed. According to several high-profile surveys, young adults in America may be the most faithless and perverse generation yet. And they're suffering the mental and spiritual health consequences. Young people…
March 22, 202428 Comments
The Mall

The Idea of a Mall

Yesterday a fascinating intergenerational conversation took place on X. And it put me in mind of a subject we haven't touched on in a while: The cultural impact of the mall - how it rose to dominance, and how it faded. While loving the idea of a mall is a…
March 19, 202428 Comments
Howdy Doody Reboot

No Howdy Doody Reboot

A recent post on the Pop Cult occasioned a salient and topical discussion in the comments. Author JD Cowan writes: That’s just it, isn’t it. Nothing is made for younger generations anymore. The average age of Cartoon Network viewers is 29. Disney World is filled with single wine aunts and…
February 28, 20249 Comments
Nintendo vs Sony

The Riddle of the Pop Cult

Author JD Cowan wrote a post yesterday that shed new light on elements of Cultural Ground Zero and the Pop Cult and showed how they're interrelated. So it was of course fitting that he prominently featured this now-ubiquitous image by retro artist Rachid Lotf. We've been plumbing the riddle of…
February 23, 202419 Comments
Millennials’ Spiritual Affliction

Millennials’ Spiritual Affliction

Last week's testimony from a reader who's experienced strange nocturnal visions drew overwhelming comment. Based on the flood of responses, it appears that Millennials' spiritual affliction may be a real phenomenon that bears more investigation. The following are samples of reports from the comments and from X. I used to…
February 19, 202413 Comments
Generational Wealth

Millennials’ Generational Poverty

If you've witnessed intergenerational arguments online, it's a near-certainty you've seen Baby Boomers taking flak for hoarding their wealth and leaving their posterity in generational poverty. A while back, Business Insider backed up those complaints with data. The numbers show that not only have younger generations been robbed, the scope…
February 12, 202421 Comments
Late Night HypnoJournoClowns

Late-Night HypnoJourno Clowns

If you were of college age back in the aughts, it was impossible to miss the late-night news parody show craze. Once Comedy Central's saucy puppet shows went off air for the day, the syncopated sounds of smug one-liners punctuated with mindless laughter would filter from dorm rooms, cheap apartments,…
February 6, 202416 Comments