Hope Lost: The Zillennial Reckoning with a Regressing Society
Every generation faces a unique set of challenges and questions. However, it might be fair to say that young millennials and older Gen Z, also known as zillennials, have experienced more than their share of political troubles.
Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “To some generations much is given. Of others much is expected.” The zillennial microgeneration grew up thinking they were the former, surrounded by social progress and liberal thinking, but endless political turmoil has shocked them into realizing they’re expected to fix the systems the older generations broke.
A zillennial is someone caught between the millennial generation and Gen X, a cusp microgeneration born roughly between 1992 and 2000.
After growing up in a somewhat idyllic political landscape, unprecedented disasters, reversed social progress, and an ineffective government has disillusioned this cusp generation.
Disappointed in Democracy
Zillennials feel a strong sense of disappointment toward American democracy. According to a 2020 report from the Centre for the Future of Democracy, this trend is a global issue as well. The report states, “Almost every global region it is among 18 – 34-year-olds that satisfaction with democracy is in steepest decline.”
Surveys show that there is a stark difference between how the oldest millennials felt around this age compared to zillennials of the same age. Fred Lewsey’s piece, “Faith in democracy: millennials are the most disillusioned generation ‘in living memory,’” details the deep disappointment these young people feel toward politics.
Dr. Roberto Foa, the lead author of the report from Cambridge’s Department of Politics and International Studies, told Lewsey at the University of Cambridge, “Globally, as the first millennials began university at the turn of the century, satisfaction with democracy was higher than in their parents’ generation. It fell sharply following the financial crisis of 2008, with millennials losing faith harder and faster than older generations.”
This disappointment has resulted in an apathetic attitude for some. A Harvard poll conducted in spring 2022, revealed that one in three young people said that “political involvement rarely has tangible results,” and two in five believed their vote “doesn’t make a difference.”
A major part of this political disillusionment is the disparity between the world zillennials grew up in (or thought they were growing up in) and the world they know as young adults.
The World Zillennials Grew Up In
Rae Thomas, MA, LPC Chief Clinical Officer and co-founder at Feelings Found, attests to this, saying “I have women coming into my office every day with anxiety through the roof because of current politics… Climate, economy, democracy, it all feels so much more uncertain now than when we were kids.”
In American schools, zillennials learned about the fairness of American democracy. They were told that a free market system, capitalism, and neoliberalism were the only way to create a democratic society. But they grew up to discover that democracy can be anything but fair, watching a system that structurally leans right more and more each day.
At the start of 2000, there was general acceptance of “a governing paradigm emphasizing small government, free markets, and open borders.” This quote comes from Alasdair Roberts’ paper “The Third and Fatal Shock: How Pandemic Killed the Millennial Paradigm” which explores changes in the American government within the last 100 years.
Essentially, Roberts details how many older generations touted the sunny 1990s as the “normal.” Deviations from this “normal” were addressed as outliers, temporary situations. Roberts highlights that the late 1990s were in fact an exceptional period of peace and prosperity. But it was exactly that — exceptional, and not to be considered the norm.
The millennial paradigm he discusses, “was a way of governing designed for moments of calm, based on the mistaken assumption that calm was the usual state of affairs.” Zillennials witnessed the transition from this calm state of affairs to constant unrest, making everything they learned as kids seem false.
Furthermore, following the 9/11 attacks, patriotism increased. Zillennials grew up with this “America Strong” attitude around them, only to discover how deeply flawed the country is. This stint of patriotism in the early 2000s contributed to the favorable view zillennials once had concerning American politics and democracy.
Zillennials didn’t wake up one day angry. It was a long, brutal path to the almost complete disillusionment many feel today.
The Path to Disillusionment
The 2008 recession, ever-worsening climate change, the chaos of American involvement in the Israel-Palestine conflict, Trump’s presidency, the prevalence of school shootings, the COVID-19 pandemic, and Roe v. Wade being overturned were just some of the major stops on the path to disillusionment.
An Increasingly Deadly World
The world is a deadly place, there is no denying that. However, it seems to be becoming deadlier.
According to a report from the National Center for Education Statistics, between 2000 and 2022, 206 people were killed in an active shooting at an elementary, secondary, or postsecondary school. Over 275 individuals were wounded in these shootings. These figures do not include non-school shootings but are enough to show the severity of gun and mental health problems in the US.
Cameron Kasky, a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, spoke with opinion writer Jessica Grose at The New York Times. He told her, “Parkland was a formative shock for my generation. And then COVID comes and completely pulls the curtain aside and shows us there have been no inner machinations to help us if everything comes to a boiling point.”
It’s not that zillennials were ever under the impression that life was all roses and rainbows. But they were under the impression that there were systems and protocols in place for such disasters. Seeing the Trump administration’s unpreparedness and insensitivity toward COVID-19 shattered the illusionary glass for many.
While inflation is slowing down now a few years after the pandemic, zillennials are still feeling the financial impact of the high costs that arose following COVID.
Climate change is accelerating faster than ever, and few policymakers seem interested in taking action to protect the planet.
All of this has culminated in a cusp generation severely unsatisfied with American politics and government. Zillennials thought government officials aimed to make things better, even if slowly. Now, many believe “political involvement rarely has tangible results,” according to the spring 2022 Harvard youth poll.
Reversal of Social Progress
In The Atlantic article “Gen Z Doesn’t Remember When American Politics Worked” Annie Lowrey hits the nail on the end, explaining, “On some issues of particular importance to young progressive voters, there has been not just no progress, but a reversal of progress.”
Seeing Roe v. Wade overturned in 2022 was a massive shock. Some might say no one should’ve been surprised, as right parties campaigned for this overturn for a long time. However, many zillennials felt something so backward could never occur. With this happening on the heels of the mishandled pandemic —a one-two punch — it solidified zillennials’ distrust, disappointment, and frustration with their government.
With the freedom to dictate their own abortion laws, now 14 states have banned abortion, and four have banned it after six weeks of pregnancy. Zillennials are watching their freedoms be stripped away in real-time.
And now, far-right parties are turning their attention to same-sex marriage. For zillennials, it feels like all the beautiful social progress America made in their youth is being washed away.
The Death of the American Dream
The American Dream concept plays a large role in the disillusionment of zillennials. They were taught that America was a haven, and for Americans, living a quality life was inherently in the cards.
This, of course, was almost always false. But as the economy continues to choke the middle class, two kids, two cars, a spacious house, one vacation a year, and a decent retirement fund have become out of reach for many.
Zillennials will likely never celebrate 20 or 30 years at the same company. Many can’t afford even the most basic starter homes despite having an average salary. Some may never be able to retire thanks to the state of the economy and concerning conversations around Social Security.
Zillennials have slowly watched this American dream, which they thought they were guaranteed, ripped from them and labeled “only for the 1%.”
The executive director of NextGen America, Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, told Lowrey, “The economy we have was not built for us. You look at the rates of homeownership among young adults. You look at their debt ratios. It’s not a bright future, and it’s young people’s No. 1 concern.”
Even worse, they see that these economic crises tend to benefit far-right parties and the already wealthy. The American Dream, which was supposed to be for everyone, is now drastically out of reach for many of the younger generations.
Zillennials Are Not Giving Up
Zillennials have experienced political shock, disillusionment, and frustration, but they’re not throwing in the towel. While some may have been disengaged before, there is a fire under this cusp generation now, pushing them to do more. Census data from recent years shows that Gen Z is turning up to vote at a young age far more than millennials or Gen X ever did.
Lisa Damour, an author and psychologist also spoke to Grose, saying, “I think I’ve watched teens become more cynical, and raise more pointed questions than ever about the decisions adults make.”
While some may take an apathetic attitude, many more are rolling up their sleeves and putting the work in to fix the mistakes older generations left for them.
Nick Troiano, a founder of Unite America, told Lowrey. “We have uncompetitive elections and a gridlocked government…But that’s not a reason for people to disengage. It’s a reason for people to double down and fix a system that isn’t working.” Rather than lay down and moan, zillennials are picking up their protest signs and ballots and striving toward the political landscape they want for their country.
Piecing America Back Together
Thomas explains the path forward for zillennials: “The best thing we can do is try to pin down exactly what it is we are feeling and what we are fearful of. Once we gain that clarity we can work towards addressing it head-on by engaging in activism for a particular cause or finding more support in our personal lives. It may not solve the unpredictability of our future, but we can at least feel like we are players in creating our future rather than having our future created for us.”
Ultimately, zillennials feel they were dealt a bad hand, especially compared to what they were promised as kids. And the truth is they were.
While older generations roll around in their accumulated wealth, zillennials and the upcoming generations are left to piece together the shattered image they have of America and, hopefully, make something that resembles a fair and effective political system.
Every generation faces a unique set of challenges and questions. However, it might be fair to say that young millennials and older Gen Z, also known as zillennials, have experienced more than their share of political troubles.
Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “To some generations much is given. Of others much is expected.” The zillennial microgeneration grew up thinking they were the former, surrounded by social progress and liberal thinking, but endless political turmoil has shocked them into realizing they’re expected to fix the systems the older generations broke.
A zillennial is someone caught between the millennial generation and Gen X, a cusp microgeneration born roughly between 1992 and 2000.
After growing up in a somewhat idyllic political landscape, unprecedented disasters, reversed social progress, and an ineffective government has disillusioned this cusp generation.
Disappointed in Democracy
Zillennials feel a strong sense of disappointment toward American democracy. According to a 2020 report from the Centre for the Future of Democracy, this trend is a global issue as well. The report states, “Almost every global region it is among 18 – 34-year-olds that satisfaction with democracy is in steepest decline.”
Surveys show that there is a stark difference between how the oldest millennials felt around this age compared to zillennials of the same age. Fred Lewsey’s piece, “Faith in democracy: millennials are the most disillusioned generation ‘in living memory,’” details the deep disappointment these young people feel toward politics.
Dr. Roberto Foa, the lead author of the report from Cambridge’s Department of Politics and International Studies, told Lewsey at the University of Cambridge, “Globally, as the first millennials began university at the turn of the century, satisfaction with democracy was higher than in their parents’ generation. It fell sharply following the financial crisis of 2008, with millennials losing faith harder and faster than older generations.”
This disappointment has resulted in an apathetic attitude for some. A Harvard poll conducted in spring 2022, revealed that one in three young people said that “political involvement rarely has tangible results,” and two in five believed their vote “doesn’t make a difference.”
A major part of this political disillusionment is the disparity between the world zillennials grew up in (or thought they were growing up in) and the world they know as young adults.
The World Zillennials Grew Up In
Rae Thomas, MA, LPC Chief Clinical Officer and co-founder at Feelings Found, attests to this, saying “I have women coming into my office every day with anxiety through the roof because of current politics… Climate, economy, democracy, it all feels so much more uncertain now than when we were kids.”
In American schools, zillennials learned about the fairness of American democracy. They were told that a free market system, capitalism, and neoliberalism were the only way to create a democratic society. But they grew up to discover that democracy can be anything but fair, watching a system that structurally leans right more and more each day.
At the start of 2000, there was general acceptance of “a governing paradigm emphasizing small government, free markets, and open borders.” This quote comes from Alasdair Roberts’ paper “The Third and Fatal Shock: How Pandemic Killed the Millennial Paradigm” which explores changes in the American government within the last 100 years.
Essentially, Roberts details how many older generations touted the sunny 1990s as the “normal.” Deviations from this “normal” were addressed as outliers, temporary situations. Roberts highlights that the late 1990s were in fact an exceptional period of peace and prosperity. But it was exactly that — exceptional, and not to be considered the norm.
The millennial paradigm he discusses, “was a way of governing designed for moments of calm, based on the mistaken assumption that calm was the usual state of affairs.” Zillennials witnessed the transition from this calm state of affairs to constant unrest, making everything they learned as kids seem false.
Furthermore, following the 9/11 attacks, patriotism increased. Zillennials grew up with this “America Strong” attitude around them, only to discover how deeply flawed the country is. This stint of patriotism in the early 2000s contributed to the favorable view zillennials once had concerning American politics and democracy.
Zillennials didn’t wake up one day angry. It was a long, brutal path to the almost complete disillusionment many feel today.
The Path to Disillusionment
The 2008 recession, ever-worsening climate change, the chaos of American involvement in the Israel-Palestine conflict, Trump’s presidency, the prevalence of school shootings, the COVID-19 pandemic, and Roe v. Wade being overturned were just some of the major stops on the path to disillusionment.
An Increasingly Deadly World
The world is a deadly place, there is no denying that. However, it seems to be becoming deadlier.
According to a report from the National Center for Education Statistics, between 2000 and 2022, 206 people were killed in an active shooting at an elementary, secondary, or postsecondary school. Over 275 individuals were wounded in these shootings. These figures do not include non-school shootings but are enough to show the severity of gun and mental health problems in the US.
Cameron Kasky, a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, spoke with opinion writer Jessica Grose at The New York Times. He told her, “Parkland was a formative shock for my generation. And then COVID comes and completely pulls the curtain aside and shows us there have been no inner machinations to help us if everything comes to a boiling point.”
It’s not that zillennials were ever under the impression that life was all roses and rainbows. But they were under the impression that there were systems and protocols in place for such disasters. Seeing the Trump administration’s unpreparedness and insensitivity toward COVID-19 shattered the illusionary glass for many.
While inflation is slowing down now a few years after the pandemic, zillennials are still feeling the financial impact of the high costs that arose following COVID.
Climate change is accelerating faster than ever, and few policymakers seem interested in taking action to protect the planet.
All of this has culminated in a cusp generation severely unsatisfied with American politics and government. Zillennials thought government officials aimed to make things better, even if slowly. Now, many believe “political involvement rarely has tangible results,” according to the spring 2022 Harvard youth poll.
Reversal of Social Progress
In The Atlantic article “Gen Z Doesn’t Remember When American Politics Worked” Annie Lowrey hits the nail on the head, explaining, “On some issues of particular importance to young progressive voters, there has been not just no progress, but a reversal of progress.”
Seeing Roe v. Wade overturned in 2022 was a massive shock. Some might say no one should’ve been surprised, as right parties campaigned for this overturn for a long time. However, many zillennials felt something so backward could never occur. With this happening on the heels of the mishandled pandemic —a one-two punch — it solidified zillennials’ distrust, disappointment, and frustration with their government.
With the freedom to dictate their own abortion laws, now 14 states have banned abortion, and four have banned it after six weeks of pregnancy. Zillennials are watching their freedoms be stripped away in real-time.
And now, far-right parties are turning their attention to same-sex marriage. For zillennials, it feels like all the beautiful social progress America made in their youth is being washed away.
The Death of the American Dream
The American Dream concept plays a large role in the disillusionment of zillennials. They were taught that America was a haven, and for Americans, living a quality life was inherently in the cards.
This, of course, was almost always false. But as the economy continues to choke the middle class, two kids, two cars, a spacious house, one vacation a year, and a decent retirement fund have become out of reach for many.
Zillennials will likely never celebrate 20 or 30 years at the same company. Many can’t afford even the most basic starter homes despite having an average salary. Some may never be able to retire thanks to the state of the economy and concerning conversations around Social Security.
Zillennials have slowly watched this American dream, which they thought they were guaranteed, ripped from them and labeled “only for the 1%.”
The executive director of NextGen America, Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, told Lowrey, “The economy we have was not built for us. You look at the rates of homeownership among young adults. You look at their debt ratios. It’s not a bright future, and it’s young people’s No. 1 concern.”
Even worse, they see that these economic crises tend to benefit far-right parties and the already wealthy. The American Dream, which was supposed to be for everyone, is now drastically out of reach for many of the younger generations.
Zillennials Are Not Giving Up
Zillennials have experienced political shock, disillusionment, and frustration, but they’re not throwing in the towel. While some may have been disengaged before, there is a fire under this cusp generation now, pushing them to do more. Census data from recent years shows that Gen Z is turning up to vote at a young age far more than millennials or Gen X ever did.
Lisa Damour, an author and psychologist also spoke to Grose, saying, “I think I’ve watched teens become more cynical, and raise more pointed questions than ever about the decisions adults make.”
While some may take an apathetic attitude, many more are rolling up their sleeves and putting the work in to fix the mistakes older generations left for them.
Nick Troiano, a founder of Unite America, told Lowrey. “We have uncompetitive elections and a gridlocked government…But that’s not a reason for people to disengage. It’s a reason for people to double down and fix a system that isn’t working.” Rather than lay down and moan, zillennials are picking up their protest signs and ballots and striving toward the political landscape they want for their country.
Piecing America Back Together
Thomas explains the path forward for zillennials: “The best thing we can do is try to pin down exactly what it is we are feeling and what we are fearful of. Once we gain that clarity we can work towards addressing it head-on by engaging in activism for a particular cause or finding more support in our personal lives. It may not solve the unpredictability of our future, but we can at least feel like we are players in creating our future rather than having our future created for us.”
Ultimately, zillennials feel they were dealt a bad hand, especially compared to what they were promised as kids. And the truth is they were.
While older generations roll around in their accumulated wealth, zillennials and the upcoming generations are left to piece together the shattered image they have of America and, hopefully, make something that resembles a fair and effective political system.
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