Instead of even trying to chase jobs that seem out of reach, Gen Z is embracing living like a rat—not showering or leaving the house for days at a time.
The millennial era of “work hard, play harder” and “girl bossing” has given way to a new trend. In China, at least, Gen Zers are proudly calling themselves “rat people”—they’re spending entire days procrastinating in bed, scrolling on their phones, snoozing and ordering take out.
I think it has something to do with “giving up” on the economy: if you have very low chances of landing a job anyways, why even try?
The article does not directly tell us how many people participate in this movement consciously. It does hint, however:
Today, over 4 million American Gen Zers remain jobless. In China, the government has said that as of February, 1 in 6 young people are unemployed.
I mean if I lived in China I’d give up too, or worse. Seems very sad to be there
Sad to be in the US, too. Honestly, this feels too relatable. The system is rigged against us, and people who were in power before we were even born pulled up the ladder behind them.
Plus whatever you do now in the USA economy isn’t going to matter. I still have hope for a revolution, but whether it succeeds or fails, we will not be living in the late-capitalist system we grew up in. Either the revolution fails and we live in a fascist hell-hole (as the Chinese and Russians already do) or we win and have to focus on Reconstruction. A Bachelor’s in Communications and a $40K/yr office position doesn’t matter when the Republicans declare Martial Law.