A Gen Y Timeline

In a well-thought-out comment on our previous Generation Y post, Reader Rudolph Harrier presented a detailed Gen Y timeline.

Does his account of events align with Ys’ lived history?

Read for yourself, and decide.

How I see the development of Gen Y's worldview:

1980's - The beginning of childhood. Happiness with some vague worries about Russia that we were too young to understand.

1989-1996 - Childhood wonderland. Every year has some neat new gadget, and it's never going to stop. The Cold War is over, and the worst we're going to have to worry about is petty crime. Star Trek was right!

1997-2000 - In retrospect this is cultural ground zero, but technology and games are still in high gear (it's the beginning of the Golden Age of PC gaming and the Golden Age of the World Wide Web after all.)

2001-2006 - 9/11 demonstrates that we aren't in a world of eternal peace, but hey, at least technology is still pretty good. Our college degrees aren't getting us as much as promised, but it is easy to blame things on a temporary lag in the economy.

2007-2011 - There's a vague sense that the party may be truly be over, but no one really wants to admit it. Cell phones make major advances, but this also leads to a noticeable decline in the quality of the web. It's impossible to believe that each new console generation will bring as many innovations as we saw previously. Nerd culture starts to take over the cinema... and it's starting to feel lame. Obama's first term plus social media brings politics into nearly every conversation, but it's still possible to pretend that this is just part of the wave of the future.

2012-2015 - It's over. The response to the Trayvon Martin case proves that we aren't in the post-racial society we thought we grew up in the 90's. Gamergate shows that there's no escape into vidya that gets better year after year. Gay marriage is legalized by decree despite public opinion against it. You are no either for clown world or you must take a stand against it. A lot of Gen Y, perhaps the majority, tries to block things out by overloading on consumption of media, but this is just a tacit approval of clown world.

2016-2019 - The election of President Trump means that no one can really say "I just want to play video games" any more. If you do not make a choice, your choice will be made for you. Gen Y divides into bugmen consumerists who tow the party line, blackpilled masses who want to go back to the 90's but who know it is impossible, and dissident ultra-traditionalists. (However, you still can't tell the difference between the three groups if you get them talking about 16 bit consoles or 2nd Edition AD&D.)

2020-Now - COVID lockdowns pretty much destroy the middle group of Gen Y. This is no longer just about dealing with political conversations at family gatherings; you have to make choices that could get you fired. Spiritually I think a lot of Gen Y was coasting along; part of some Christian denomination but not really thinking about it. But when they stop having services what do you do? Decide that it's more time for playing corporate vidya and streaming the New Thing, or decide that it's time to really devote yourself to God? Everyone had to make that decision in 2020, and very few people have reversed their decisions.

Related: Gen Y at a Crossroads

My comment:

When presented in sequence as above, the chain of events Rudolph lays out suggests a strong possibility that few will want to contemplate. That doesn’t just go for blue-pilled Ys who defend the system or “I just want to play vidya” fence-riders.

Even membes of Gen Y who recognized the diabolical face behind the mask slips and turned back to Jesus Christ may feel pangs of unease at the implications Western society’s decline and the subsequent awakening.

I’ll just yank on the loose thread, here: What if the perpetual Christmas party of the late 20th century had to end?

The theologians authoritatively inform us that God only allows evil so that some greater good may be brought forth from it.

So, what if it turns out that abundant, casual, and cheap entertainment, sex, and junk food are incompatible with Western man’s spiritual health?

What if the descent into Clown World was a direct and inevitable consequence of worshiping the material wealth that God blessed us with?

That’s not to suggest that civilization-wide temporal poverty is an absolete precondition for holiness. But it is to say that in the specific case of late 20th century Western civilization, we may have been tested and found lacking the moral maturity necessary to use our toys without turning them into idols.

No one can deny that the reverse is true: Church membership, especially among the young, has significantly increased as temporal conditions decline.

If this interpretation of the data is correct, it lands the idea espoused by those who promote exclusively political, economic, or demographic solutions to the current crisis in serious jeopardy.

Because it may be—and history bears out this observation—that the prodigal children of Christendom will need to grow up before we can once again have our toys.

The literary equivalent of Elden Ring

Experience the answer to propagandized establishment slop now!

This blog brings you incisive commentary on classic adventure fiction. Neopatronage gets you involved in making it and lets you steer the Kairos Kingdom while helping you build your own.

Join the Court on Patreon or SubscribeStar now!