The Existential Millennial Struggle

The existential millennial struggle
A slow and inevitable descent into hopeless depression
brought on by an existential anxiety
that overwhelms our collective consciousness.

This is the future that awaits the huge population of our intelligent and highly educated Millennial generation. It has hit myself sooner than most, as I am on the older end. I am now here to give a voice to those that are struggling to define and fight against the invisible enemy that is our future.

Just a couple weeks ago I hid away in my room for several days, overcome by an emotional breakdown, depression, and anxiety. These episodes would happen to me once every couple years, but this one was much more serious. I’ve been dancing around depression ever since, but I refuse to see a psychologist or take medication or even admit I have a problem. Because I sincerely believe I do not have a problem. Society has a problem. And my episode was a chance to dig in to the root of this problem.

I know it is not just me. So many of us are paralyzed by our hyperactive consciousness into inaction, leading us to watch those action-oriented people with a shallower consciousness to rise above us. Our inaction leads to lack of confidence and a deep loneliness that disconnects us from feelings of passion, loyalty, love… all those essential feelings that make us forget about the absurdity of the world we live in. In its place grows an emptiness within us, and this emptiness threatens to kill our spirit while our body still lives.

A curious thing I have learned… those of us that are born into freedom are often paralyzed by it. Sometimes, freedom is hardest to find when you are already free. When you are imprisoned, you understand freedom by having it taken away… and when it is given back to you, you recognize it and are fully able to yield the fruits of freedom. But when you are born into the free world, constantly being told you are free, you often don’t recognize that you are not truly free until you find this freedom within yourself. It is much more difficult to recognize the forces holding you back from freedom when they are forces within yourself, and not forces outside of you. Unless you stop and reflect, you may not ever recognize that you aren’t free. The truth it, even in a free world, no one is born into freedom. You cannot buy it, you cannot give it; you must find it within you.

Our supposedly free world has constructed a system that enslaves us all the while it tells us we are still free. And many of us blindly believe it. But a bachelors degree, masters degree, and a stable career are not what make one free; especially when the consequence of this path is years of enslavement to college debt, car payments, and mortgage payments. On the rare occasion I have found someone that is truly happy, and truly enjoys the life they live, it has never been someone who has followed this standard path. There are some I have encountered who have experienced a beautiful existence, and it was usually in some sort of journey into a third world country in Africa or Southeast Asia. There, they would live the happiest days of their lives with a local family for several months to several years, before they hear the Western world calling them back into a live of safety, security, and emptiness.

In the Western world, our spirit is crying out for purpose, and for meaning. What we desire is to bond with others in a shared struggle for survival, but our system pushes us away from this very struggle for survival, and provides us with security, comfort, and convenience. But by doing so, our bonds of humanity are broken if they were ever even formed in the first place. Instead of a shared struggle for physical survival like our grandfathers in WWII or those in third world countries, we are engaged in millions of individual struggles against our own invisible enemies. Absurdity. Meaninglessness. Existential anxiety. Depression. Suicide. This is the struggle of our generation. And right now we are losing.

I was a philosophy major. Most people give me looks ranging from confused to amused when I tell people. This usually turns into full fledged amusement when I say I am a full time philosopher. They laugh not mockingly, but because it seems like such a ridiculous notion to dedicate one’s life to something that provides them no money. Philosophy is not my job, it is my calling, because if I do not do something my spirit will die before I ever have any concerns about running out of money. I do have a full time job in the Army. But I do not love the Army. I do not even love my country. I love humanity. And I believe the United States has the greatest potential to represent a beautiful existence for humanity. Think of what our country represents. Freedom, hope, opportunity, and the pursuit of happiness. But we have lost the beauty from within. Why has this happened?

I believe this is a failure of philosophers. Someone must bear the responsibility for steering our country in the right direction, and I believe philosophers should be the ones to do so. Throughout history, philosophers are the ones who have influenced the most powerful people in the world with their ideas. Where are the great philosophers now? Professional philosophers have been relegated to their field of philosophy, where they make a modest living debating ideas that most of the world doesn’t care about. Philosophy teachers teach those students interested in philosophy, but what of all those students who mock the importance of philosophy? Or even worse… mock the importance of learning?

As philosophers, we must be able to connect with all people, not just other philosophers. The disconnectedness of our society seems to have hit the field of philosophy just as well, and if we as philosophers are to do anything about the problem of our generation, we must first learn to connect philosophy to the actual issues that are affecting our society. Or else, the absurd number of our mental health issues will continue to rise, leading to a future of miserable and spiritually dead Americans who once had so much hope and energy.

Now I open up the floor to my fellow philosophers. Do you see these same problems? What solutions do you have? Thoughts?

a reply to: Wang Tang

That is YOUR experience.

I have a lot of young people I work with and know through my daughter and coaching job and most of them are highly successful and doing great. In fact, they are generally motivated and don't spend time obsessing about their 'plight' and instead concentrate on their jobs, relationships and education.

I have helped many of these young people with guidance, cars and money when they need it to give them a head start on life that I never had as a young person.

I think you need to quit feeling sorry for yourself and start living your life.

a reply to: Metallicus

It absolutely is my experience. But it is not just my experience. The amount of high school and college students with "mental health issues" and prescribed on anxiety medications is beyond alarming. It's one of those problems you can't just look at someone and see. Like I said, it's an invisible enemy.

I am probably more successful than those young people you know. I don't say that to be condescending, I say it as fact. I am sure if you knew me you would also think I was highly successful and doing great. But that doesn't mean I am.

Having a head start in life is not necessarily a blessing. However, giving young people guidance absolutely a blessing. Good on you for that.

"This is the future that awaits the huge population of our intelligent and highly educated Millennial generation. It has hit myself sooner than most, as I am on the older end. I am now here to give a voice to those that are struggling to define and fight against the invisible enemy that is our future"


Perhaps it is not consumerism nor possessions nor education, but escape. Idyllic locals, free from stress. People free from pretense, escape from your taskmasters. A road trip, what we used to call a sabbatical.

a reply to: Wang Tang

I'm a millenial too. I went through my crisis between ages 17-22. Humanity goes through these historical cycles, where centrism (in all things: politics, economics, religion, etc) is gradually lost as polarity sets in. Right vs left, socialism vs cronyism, legalism vs antinomianism. I believe our polarity cycle is reaching its peak, and is about to be broken, and I think that is the trigger of our existential crisis. Polarity is a result of social hypnosis. A circular feedback loop gains momentum within a group, and it grabs hold of the off centered mind. As this cycle has been oscillating more and more over the past three or four generations, I believe people have begun to sacrifice their individuality for the polar delusion. In the case of a millennial, despite our upbringing, we were still relatively neutral upon entering adulthood. So from our perspective, the current states of polarity appear surreal. We don't want to settle for polarized assimilation. Therefore, our crisis stems from our resistance of these social trends. Its not until we develop our own individual beliefs that we move beyond the crisis stage into a higher maturity level.

Philosophy is indeed important. Not only does it force us to face our own demons, but it reveals the psychological state of the masses.

a reply to: Wang Tang

The only enslavement is in one's head.

I went to college without debt, and it can still be done. For a generation that likes to think and research so much, it amazes me that they refuse to accept things right in front of them. School does not have to be done in any certain time frame. You can work a year and go to school a year, you can work and go to school. You can go to community college. You can apply for tens of thousands of scholarships. You can work for a company that give tuition reimbursement. You can test out of a lot of classes. You don't have to go to school, you can do a trade. This is freedom of choice.

I can guarantee you that education and a stable job will make you much more free than being poor or tied to systems or others to take care of you. Sooner than most would like we are going to see this. People that rely on the government or others to take care of them are going to be hit hard in the coming years. Education and sillare are something no one can take away from you. The example you gave of a person going to a third world country. Of course they are happy there, they realize all they have taken for granted in their lives. Those people would give an arm and a leg to live here in the US, even with all it's problems.

There are truly people with severe mental illness and need help, but I really believe there are a lot of people that have way too much time on their hands. I think this is due to the internet, social media, etc. Don't get me wrong, I think it is important to have people that think, especially outside the box, but we also need to live in reality. We need people to do. I can dream up the most fantastical recipe for apple pie in the world, but it is nothing compared to a person that bakes one.

BTW, my father was in the Army for over 30 years. He often told me about the young people that had trouble "finding" themselves. He used to say hurry up life is passing you by.

Highly educated and Intelligent generation? I dont know about that. The entitled generation is probably more apt.

Not a comment on your own intelligence or state of affairs but on the majority of the millenial generation from my experience. Our education system is mostly an indictrination system with a little education on the side, preparing people for jobs that dont and wont exist, telling all their customers that they deserve everything without ever lifting a finger, let alone putting in the extra work it takes to have a chance at success.

Im not saying its all the fault of the millenial generation, millenials have been duped from the beginning by our manipulative wealthy overlords. But theyve also duped themselves.

And depression and nihilism are the trademarks of gen x so you need your own thing. Just sayin.

a reply to: Wang Tang

I do have a full time job in the Army. But I do not love the Army. I do not even love my country. I love humanity

I wonder at how much easier is might be for those who love their country first. The success of their country and what it has to offer them is paramount. But loving humanity first it seems is a harder choice because of the manner in which ones country may not help humanity and indeed hinder humanity in pursuit of it's own satisfactions.

The America you talk about and what it represents, Freedom, hope, opportunity, and the pursuit of happiness are is the America I was raised to believe in. But not just for ourselves. I was raised to believe that America was the city on the hill, the the light at the end of a long long tunnel of history, not only for Americans but for all of humanity.

The entire world changed for the worse when the Royal Society kicked out the philosopher-scientists in favor of the specialized/compartmentalized - scientists. We have been going down hill ever since.

Oh well, #&%$$% them, I will continue to selfishly enjoy this life to the utmost of my ability.

I don't think society has the problem, I think you are choosing to over-associate negatives and those with mental health problems with society.

Your mental health will suffer if you dwell on negatives. you will be slowly jaded without noticing.

You have to understand the system is designed to create workers not producers, and work to be a producer.

If you are a living version of a Leonard Cohen song, you will not make it. If you don't checklist the things you need to do, to get what you want, you will wander aimlessly through life looking for reasons why you aren't where you want to be. Great advise told to me by a millionaire.

Don't have the attitude of this song..... It's good, but should not saturate your thoughts

a reply to: Wang Tang

I have found that much depression is caused by financial problems.

To assist with this, do the following:

1) Do not let your millennial take useless college courses for a useless degree that puts them into 50-100K of debt.
2) Steer them into a decent job in the tech or medical sector.
3) Don't give in when they wish to be stupid and spend money on any "education" that is useless.
4) When they are 23 and making 50-70K or more, they will thank you.

originally posted by: Wang Tang
... I do not have a problem. Society has a problem....

"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society"

originally posted by: NobodiesNormal

originally posted by: Wang Tang
... I do not have a problem. Society has a problem....

"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society"

More like gravitate towards positive, successful people and you will become one before you notice.

Living paycheck to paycheck will drain anyone of their dignity and sanity.

You feel like your living only for others gain.

Everyone had to climb hill, usually in their dirty thirties they start to stabilize.

I completely agree that modern society breeds slaves who believe they are free. They willingly give up a good portion of their lives to make money and to have a few days off and call it "freedom".

What we live today is not freedom, it is bondage to the economy and those in power. We give our kids to complete strangers 5 days a week to raise them for us while we work our 9-5 jobs, society has completely ruined the family structure and has replaced it with state-sanctioned indoctrination and slavery with schools and jobs.

I don't know if there is any way of fixing it short of reverting back to our indigenous roots. That's where happiness truly lies, in family and friends. Our current way of life rips us away from those we love for a good portion of our lives and even actively encourages it.

I'm doing my part for myself by making a move to Montana where I can connect with nature and get away from the city. I think on an individual basis a good way to break the spell is by going out and being one with nature. Man has corrupted the world and destroyed it in many places, to reconnect with your higher self you need to leave where man has touched and find where he has yet to lay his hands.

Millennials are struggling now because the participation trophy world they were raised in is a lie. They are unable to handle failure and struggle.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

You create your own chains when you think 9-5 is your only way.

I agree with you on the nature stuff
I grew up in the country and anxiety increases closer to crowded cities made of endless artificial concrete, traffic, garbage etc, etc...

But community is needed for mental health, so you have to find the balance that fits you.
Between the range of mountain hermit to unfriendly NYC drone type.

a reply to: Bluntone22

Who are the ones who made the participation trophy world we were born in? The generation before us. No blame on them though I'm guessing.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

Actually I fully blame the parents for the conditions they raised their children in.

a reply to: Mandroid7

I don't plan on being a hermit, I have family in Montana but have lived in the city (Georgia) most of my life. I feel like I need to balance out the city life with semi-hermit life for a little bit in order to find that middle ground you speak of.

Just this past week alone going and hiking these national parks on the way up to my new home has helped tremendously already. I've felt closer to God hiking the mountains and wilderness than I ever did walking the streets in my home city.

I believe the city kills your soul in a way and makes you forget who you are and where you came from on a cosmic level.

a reply to: Bluntone22

Ok, as long as you recognize that people are largely a product of the environment they are introduced to/raised in.