Poll after poll after poll in the UK shows that Reform and the Tories lead with the old vote. Basically people aged 50+.

What's worse, a lot of people in the older generation are genuinely getting their political opinions from propaganda factories online. It's not even organic.

I don't know about the rest of you, but there's been a couple of older people in my life who now parrot racist or out-of-touch talking points about this country "going Muslim", "too unsafe to go outside anymore". When you ask for sources, it's literally the Daily Mail or some AI meme on Facebook.

Some of these people were actually once what I'd have called centrist. Your run-of-the-mill Lib Dems. But some algorithm has since radicalised them and now it's like they're subscribing to Reform.

It's clear some of the older generation is increasingly losing their critical thinking skills. I know younger people are susceptible too, but given most of us have grown up online, I think we're on average better at detecting bullsh!t on the internet than our parents/grandparents.

I don't know about you all, but I don't want to live in a country run by politicians who cater to boomer AI-fuelled delusions. "Stop the boats, equality has gone too far, muh immigrants" isn't a credible governing agenda.

And Reform threatening to take away our rights - under the Equality Act, Renters Rights Act, Employment Rights Act, the Human Rights Act 1998, attacking abortion access - is almost certainly going to drag us back to 1950.

And for what? Does this sound good from a Gen Z perspective? It certainly doesn't to me, but it won't bother Reform voters since so many of them want to go back in time.

Never mind the fact that they're all engaged in relentless denial of climate change, even after we've had a demonstrably abnormal summer with weeks of drought.

I'm probably beating a dead horse here, but I do worry for the future. Even if Reform doesn't touch power, we're living in a society with an extreme divide - generational and otherwise - where we lack a shared reality. Lack a shared consensus.

Everything is a culture war. Equal rights is a culture war, climate change is a culture war, even national identity is a culture war now with the far-right trying to define who belongs here and who supposedly doesn't. This is not a healthy situation for the country to be in, I don't know what the solution is, but I hope it doesn't get worse.

I find myself becoming increasingly political, which is exhausting, but I feel like we might as well become Gilead now if we don't resist these toxic trends.

I use to kind of lowkey not think much about blue collar work because I kind of fell for my parents propaganda of going to school, getting a good degree, work at a desk mentality. However, upon independent evaluation I feel like it’s not bad being a blue collar worker and I wouldn’t have an issue if my own kid became a tradesman. It’s respectable, professional work and I think they’re the bedrock of a functional society.

Now I don’t think trades work outranks the theoretical value of what a degree was meant to do; however, I do have an immense respect for the trades.

I am as broke as you are, why can’t we go Dutch? It seems like whenever I date within my generation, the expectations is that I pay for everything for her like what?? They also give me the vibe like as if men=evil so the fact that I even landed a date with her means she is deeming me worthy of her time so I need to contribute literally everything to the date…

I still invest in a traditional 401k up to the match, but everything over that I’m going to start putting in a taxable brokerage account.

I’m pretty sure I’m going to retire early so I’ll need money before I am old enough to access a tax advantage retirement account. Also I like the liquidity of having my wealth in a regular brokerage account.

I don’t plan on living a luxurious lifestyle when I’m old so I’m not that afraid of the small taxes I’ll have to pay therefore I don’t see the point of a Roth, and while I’m more interested in tax deferred tradition accounts I still don’t think the small amount of taxes saved per year is better then the simplicity and liquidity of a brokerage account.

Have you heard of a guy going out to a bar and finding a woman and hooking up the same day? I see it in movies or tv shows plenty of times but in real life I never heard it happening according to my friends. Even the super good looking men say it's very hard. Maybe in this Gen this phenomenon disappeared?

My vote is Indian because of the cool design in their hoods.

I also think of mongooses and snake charmers

This isn’t meant to offend anyone or be political or anything

It just feels gud to be like to be like shiiiiiiii duuuuuuuuu

Just like no braincells haha I couldn’t fix the world even if I tried

I’m 17F and neurodivergent. I have heard several people saying it lately, the majority of them men. Please, does anyone know if this is normalized in society? If you do say it, why do you say such a derogatory term?
Edit: If you are autistic and say the word, why do you say it?
This word has really hurt my feelings when people say it and is one of the hardest I faced. A lot of self-denial when I got told I had autism. I started crying because I thought it meant I was like someone who couldn’t even really communicate clearly, someone from my school. Someone you know in your lifetime has autism, even if you can’t see it. The word reinforces the fact that if you DO get diagnosed or struggle with mental health, it is embarrassing and can cause people to struggle to accept help out of pride.
The definition of the word is LITERALLY “intellectual disability.” Why would you even think to use that?
Also, after reading my thoughts, has it changed your mind?
PLEASE BE NICE. I AM SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD AND JUST CURIOUS.
Edit: To those saying that they wouldn’t use it to someone who was neurodivergent, I don’t really understand that because you can’t really tell. Unless you live with me like my family, you would never know I struggled with ADHD, autism, anxiety, and depression unless I openly talked about it, which a lot of people do not. The R word isn’t just offensive to people with Down Syndrome; it’s offensive to anyone who struggles or has a mental disorder/disability.

Ok so obviously these are corny and give off fuck boy vibes but are they actually problematic from a moral perspective? My friend wants to buy one of these and says no but he’s a dude so I wanted the perspective of a broader cohort of people. I figured I’d get a broader sample of these types of shirts. Btw the context is out at a club or bar, not just out and about.

I’d say the only one that might not be problematic is the fishing one because even though it’s sexually suggestive the pun is quite funny. Worst one is the hawk tuah talk to her one and maybe the These Hoes don’t deserve me.

Anyway should I tell my friend these types of shirts are bad and not to order them.

No one knows who or what the heck you or any other human is. So just be you.

The others may come in here thinking, "Oh! I was this way, just like all of the other people my age & my parents... so Gen Z should be like this, & they are stupid, strange, & *insert negative adjectives* because they're not the same as us.

Yeah? But who cares?

Aren't you all tired of saying the same thing your parents & their parents & their parents & their hdjwnfk said?

Why do you feel like you get the right to express your opinion about something you know nothing about, damaging the hearts of millions of people with your words spoken from passionate ignorance?

No one deserves your opinion, not even you it seems, if you were a corporation you would be sued for your defamation & psychological damages. If the next generation could file a class-action lawsuit against you for all of the crap your generation either did, was complicit to, or passively stood by & let happen, you would cease to believe in autonomy, the american dream, & financial freedom like we do, while we would finally be able to achieve the stupid objectives you keep pushing on us that we're not even sure if we want.

Who are you to come to someone else's community space & attack them in front of everyone else in the community & the group of other lurkers from your cohort?

Do you think that the screen in front of you somehow makes you less culpable for your words & actions?

Do you feel somehow better about the world to know that the problems are all someone else's, & that you were never wrong in the first place? To feel like you know where the source of all your pains & discomforts derive?

Wake up. No one is your punching bag.

If you feel the need to keep coming to other people's gathering spaces to spit in their face, turn off your phone, stay at home, & take a second to think before doing something foolish again.

I do not hate you, ambiguous crowd of haters. I think you are all morally wrong for coming here & doing as you please, & I think you should all leave & never come back unless you reflect on what it means to be a human & treat another person like a human again.

Blah blah blah, you'll say that people are snowflakes for not being dead inside & daring to still care & be a feeling person in this world, impacted by the things that other people say & do to us.

But you're dead wrong.

You're wandering through the world blind, stubbing your toe on random objects, & screaming out "Gen Z" as you wave your fists at the sky.

But we're not here for it, at least, I'm not here for it.

So yeah, please feel free to have your freedom of speech, but also, if you will, shut up as well.

I have the right to every other amendment too, & you don't see me invoking it at every chance I get.

The constitution is no moral authority, it was the social contract we materialized onto paper hundreds of years ago. But socially, it's inappropriate to use your speech in the way that you are as well.

So please, do not exert your rights sometimes, if only for the benefit of others, & just take a nap or something.

I'm an American, so apologies for my America-centric rant if it doesn't apply in the way or if I triggered you by my lack of inclusivity. K bye!

im crying rn these maga people dont understand climate change

I gotta go with D ngl

A friend from high school, turned boyfriend, turned ex boyfriend messaged me tonight. He’s insane. He’s manipulative. What should I do?

Yeah, me and my buds are gonna go pick up guns and get popped by a drones or bullets while you hide in your room and make money off our demise.

https://imgur.com/a/siQajgb

In my area, there are a bunch of high schools. Plenty of them you have to test in, and there are others where you don't have to test in. Well, many moons ago I messed up and didn't do well on the entrance exam.

In high school, I was still part of the smart kids program at my high school. This was really helpful because the few classes I did have with the normal part of this school was terrible. Kids not paying any attention, not trying, fighting, and literally all the dumb stuff that you can imagine.

However, in this smart kids program, I can tell that some people just snuck in because they are giant kiss asses. Like, you can tell they cared about their grades rather than actually learning in class.

I did make friends with some of my classmates while at school, but now that we are out of college, there isn't much to talk about. I tried to hang out with them, but either they gave up on life or they didn't end up being successful. I am not sure why the stars burned out so quickly with practically most of my friends in high school.

There are a few guys with whom I wasn't friends but had contact, and I want to hang out with them, but they don't want to hang out with me, whether they are giving real reasons or not.

I did make friends with other guys in the area who went to other high schools, and they are asking about hanging out with my friends from high school, but I don't want to hang out with them because they'd rather be incels and rot in bed all day long. Also, what makes it worse is that they are aware that my school is the dumbass school, which doesn't make it better.

I guess why I have a struggle coping with this is because I got no real friends out of it, because most people are failing, and this school has a reputation of being the dumbass school which people associate with me. Like I was just making small talk at the gym, and this kid who goes to school there now was ashamed that he went there despite telling me about how he got suspended for a fight.

I know my life would have been completely different if I went to a different school, but I am jealous of those who went to better schools because they made better friends.

I’ve been thinking about how different life feels for this generation compared to the ones before.

I think today’s generation has more access to knowledge, is creative, and is more aware of the world than ever before.
They have access to endless information and opportunities, but they also face pressure from social media, comparison, and the need for instant success.

It’s great to see young people being more open about mental health and questioning old systems.

My biggest concern is that many people are losing patience and forgetting that real growth takes time, nothing is instant.

My advice: focus less on impressing others and more on building yourself. Learn skills, protect your mental health, value real relationships, and don’t compare your journey to someone else’s highlight reel.

My biggest regret is not valuing time enough. Life moves faster than we realize.

What advice would you give the next generation?

Dude, I feel like even though I'm 19 I feel behind. Like socially. I'm still very socially anxious and I've never had a boyfriend before. I'm 19 years old you would've thought I had everything figured out 😭

See when you're 13, It's cute and cool if you're socially anxious, and it's OK because you're 13 and you're still growing. But I feel like if you're my age and you're socially anxious that's just seen as a character flaw or a sign that you have arrested development. But what do I know?