Stereotypes catch a bad rap. But when you get to the heart of the matter, all they are is hyper-efficient ways of transmitting common understandings.
For example, we all know the trope of the clueless Boomer clicking his tongue at younger generations who haven’t made out as well as he did.
It makes sense, in a way.
To someone who grew up during the post-WW II boom, seeing whole generations floundering economically must be confounding.
A silver lining of the rampant chaos ravaging society is that the economic pain first inflicted on the young is now visiting Boomers.
Parents of struggling Millennials once told their impoverished offspring to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. But now, Boomers are sweating bullets as their empty McMansions go unsold for years, and the uniparty openly discusses gutting Social Security.
Having the lion’s share of America’s wealth future-proofed the Boomers’ 1980s lifestyles for a few decades. But time is catching up with them–in earnest.
Because while they lounged around complaining about globalists, those same elites were further consolidating their power.
And our rulers’ near-total power comes courtesy of vast generational wealth which their ancestors accumulated decades; even centuries, ago.
Related: The Generational Wealth Gap
That inheritance gives the ruling class an unbeatable head start where socioeconomic influence is concerned.
Here’s a metaphor I’m fond of using …
Imagine time as a 500 k marathon track where each kilometer represents one year. It’s a relay race where each runner passes the baton to his kid, who gets to start at the point where his dad finished.
For the sake of argument, let’s say that all our ancestors started on the same line 500 km/years back from us. Due to differences in natural ability, training, and dumb luck, some of the racers pulled ahead. But the others still had a chance to catch up if they pushed themselves. But the math says that at least some of front runners’ kids would maintain their fathers’ lead, and in some cases expand it.
Eventually, some of the 3rd and 4th generation runners way out front would run over the horizon from those trailing behind. A number of them would realize that no one would know if they cheated. So, some of them would indulge the temptation to stop running on foot and hop in golf carts. Their already wide lead, which a runner farther back might have been able to overcome with supreme effort, would double. And when no chance existed of anyone discovering their cheating, the golf cart drivers would switch to sports cars, then bullet trains, then supersonic jets.
What are the odds that the succeeding generations who never had to train, but got to ride out the race on the Concord, are as fit as their ancestors who started running?
This is why we see such gross mismanagement in every sector of commerce. Our rulers have inherited an almost omnipotent machine, but they no longer remember how it works. They have degenerated into a cargo cult that tries to appease the machine with blood rituals and sacrifices.
The machine is incredibly resilient–it was built to be–but one day it will stop.
Prepare yourself for chaos.
The deep lore of Tolkien meets the brutal struggle of Glen Cook in the dark fantasy prelude to the acclaimed Soul Cycle.
And get early looks at my works in progress, the chance to influence my writing, and VIP access to my exclusive Discord.
Sign up at Patreon or SubscribeStar now.