In this generation, the young, called Gen-Zs and millennials feel depressed around the world. In the US, the young are willing to embrace the left-wing, because they think a much more fair society is needed, from system to individuals. Not only in the US, but a similar situation is also happening in East Asia such as China, Taiwan, and even Japan. In Taiwan, the reason why the young feel the world is unfair can be discussed in two aspects, the growing generational asset gap and class gap.
First, the generation gap means the working environment nowadays is totally different from the old days. Three decades ago, the young generations of that time believed in “no pain, no gain.” It was those days that people could earn decent money if they worked hard. Taiwan was called one of the “Four Asian Tigers,” and the increasing economic situation let people really have some money and even their own houses. Compared to nowadays, the millennials think no matter how hard they work, they can not afford the price of buying a house. The living costs and the rent prices already occupy over 80 percent of their salary in many large cities, so buying a house is now an unattainable dream. Furthermore, the young in Taiwan are often criticized as the “strawberry generation,” meaning that they are too weak to face the working pressure, and also leaves the label that the young do not earn enough money because they do not work as hard as before. However, the young may work harder than the old generation, and they still believe in “no pain, no gain,” but their failure to thrive is because they are limited by the environment.
Second, the gap in the different classes may be another reason that limits the young. Different classes give different resources to their next generations, which means the young stand on a different starting line, and some of them can achieve accomplishments easily but some do not. In the US, some young think that Elon Musk achieved his career by his family’s advantage, his manipulation of state policies to extract subsidies, and his turning of the stock of Tesla into a meme untethered to its revenue, not that he earned it. Hence, there is a movement, the “Lie-flat Movement,” which has become famous in recent years. The low salary and the high living costs, not even to mention inflation, damages the young and makes them question the meaning of living.
It is important for governments to understand the problem of this generation, and try to improve the problems by giving them subsidies, or lowering taxes for the young, to balance income systemically, or it may cause society to diverge too heavily and destabilize order.
Written by Eddie C.
Edited by Ari B.