MILLENNIUM EXISTENTIALISM

“We’re drowning in jobs, workloads and academic studies

A RECENT health survey predicted that one of the most serious medical conditions that contributes to youth fatalities is burnouts… And rightly so.

As millennials and a generation that is ambitious, we feel tired and fatigued. This can be attributed to our lifestyles, the plenty of opportunities we have and at times, our miseries and our circumstances.

This is why I call the “millennial existentialism” the ultimatum force we are faced with. This happens every day as we drown in jobs, workloads and academic studies.

The main concern at present, however, is how do we deal with the constant dilemmas we continue to swim in? These existential conundrums don’t only present themselves at dead ends, they are omnipresent and ominous.

This does speak to a chunk of us when it comes to conceptualising existentialism – it is not often a philosophical battle, but more of an experience to account for. Owing to how fast paced millennialism has become and the consistent search for safety, being able to exercise agency encompasses our struggle to be both hidden and recognised.

It is about navigating and deciphering, aligning and separating, all while remaining conscious of the ever-present politics involved with almost everything that we touch.

But what happens when the generation you live in teaches you how to be awake and alive but intoxicated and unconscious? With the drunkenness of ambition and pillars of corporate culture climbing on to our backs to hold on to basic survival, we are thrust into this uncertainty.

The uncertainty of constantly working towards a goal but having no direction after that. Or some may have the direction but no means to drive in the direction. There are also growing concerns as to where this constant culture will take us, especially in the socio-economic and political circumstances.

We have finally arrived at a time where digitalism peaks and so does fatality. As the morals of modernity have soared so has the globalisation era kicked in, and we see unnatural heaps of poverty, violence, crime and environmental crises.

Why is it that our hope for the 21st century to bring in blessings has instead translated to permanent curses? I think one of the answers to that is millennial existentialism.

While we admire drive and success, we often neglect humanity and honesty; the thirst for ability and rewards has turned into a monstrous race of mental dilapidation and existentialism. Wars and instability never cease to end while vague institutionalism is on the rise to grapple with innumerable transgressions.

As civil obedience becomes etched into democracies, personal freedoms have been threatened to be lynched, bombed and shot at. Interracial relationships are only celebrated on the covers of celebrity magazines while caste, race and classes are steeped in division and deprivation.

Social media has amplified our lives and numbed our souls; we live to capture it in a frame, while miss out to relive through our screens.

We know what Trump is up to but barely keep check of our own little prejudices and privileges.