Instead of even trying to chase jobs that seem out of reach, Gen Z is embracing living like a rat—not showering or leaving the house for days at a time.
The millennial era of “work hard, play harder” and “girl bossing” has given way to a new trend. In China, at least, Gen Zers are proudly calling themselves “rat people”—they’re spending entire days procrastinating in bed, scrolling on their phones, snoozing and ordering take out.
I think it has something to do with “giving up” on the economy: if you have very low chances of landing a job anyways, why even try?
The article does not directly tell us how many people participate in this movement consciously. It does hint, however:
Today, over 4 million American Gen Zers remain jobless. In China, the government has said that as of February, 1 in 6 young people are unemployed.
I’m doing the same thing in the US after getting laid off, have no energy or motivation to apply for jobs or prep for interview. I’m kinda depressed about this situation but also kinda happy to have the freedom to actually rest and breath again, for a first world country the American work system is draconic, and tying Healthcare access to a job is just inhumane
Sorry to hear you lost your job. Hoping the best for you, internet stranger!
I agree that tying healthcare to one’s job is totally fucked up. Everyone should get healthcare, period. A less than 40 hour work week, and a ubi would be nice too.
The greatest tragedy of 21 century is masses of pacified people who only farm karma and validity online in some circlejerks to feel moral superiority dopamine.
It’s the real brain drain of today.
Those people already believe they are powerless and they gave up on reality altogether
Friend, fuckin’ same. It seems like all the propaganda hit pieces do is make them feel more relatable, damn.
You have more in common with a Chinese or Russian worker than any billionaire.
Remember when the USA banned TikTok and all the USA users flocked to RedNote? USAmericans were shocked that, contrary to their propaganda, Chinese life was just like theirs (but with healthcare); and Chinese users were shocked the USA life wasn’t propaganda.
If only all the rats of the world combined into an unruly rat king… Then things would change.
Master Splinter?
Wasn’t there also the “lie flat” trend? It’s not just Gen Z who are calling uncle. If I had the means, I’d join them.
Do you mean planking?
Amateurs.
I always find these articles being so popular in western social media weird and subtly braggy. It’s like the Lyndon Johnson quote about about making white feel better than black people so you can rob them of whatever. Such a distraction that makes people feel like we’re better than them/at least we’re not them. Yet pretty much every trend I’ve seen about Chinese ennui was at the time true of Americans and western Europeans just articles being written about the ennui would not be mainstream for a couple more years. Like minimalism during the financial crisis or recently quiet-quitting in the US were celebrated in US social media as great workers movements that are positive social movements and a sign of cultural strength while lying flat in China in US social media is a sign of societal decline. Whatever either is, it’s the same shit. It’s always weird exoticism to me. You don’t get popular articles about youth expectations about young people in Romania or Greece
Ehh it’s just your projection, people aren’t okay all over the world because of global downturn
There’s no bragging, just journalism. I am from Poland btw and here and in eu all gen z have similar tendencies. Worse in USA and China probably but it is a global trend
Americans shouldn’t be looking at other countries to feel better about themselves regardless. They should be letting themselves feel bad so that they actually maintain some energy levels to fight for their own rights domestically instead of contributing to the constant stream of jingoism that has been American media since inception. Decades living and its a cycle of next enemy while economic disparity just keeps widening but people are pacifying themselves with the next enemy
bitch I’m disabled
At least they are proud
Careful, I hear ml and hexbear users gearing up anticapitalist rhetoric to one up you with. I see the fedoras and neckbeards in the distance
Living rent free in your head.
Bitch, you live in Alsace. You are a peasant. You need to give your fuckin’ lord the grain. Your fucking children, you’ve had 15 children. You’ve never taken a bath. You’ve literally never. washed. your. penis. You’ve never used toilet paper. Motherfucker, you have worms. You are dying. You’ve had 40 children, 3 of them are alive. 2 of them are child soldiers in the Duke’s army.
Bitch, the greatest thing you can hope for is to die at the old age of 36. You fucking can’t read. You don’t know what TV is. If you were transported into today, you would be the worst gamer of all time. You don’t know shit. You literally probably don’t even know what the direction ‘left’ is. I’m sure some Medieval guy is gonna get mad at me for this, bitch I’ve been to the Renaissance Fair. I’ve eaten a large turkey wing, which the Juggalos call ‘bitch beaters’, which I think is problematic but a funny thing to call them.
Motherfucker, you gotta recognize where you are, and then you gotta get passed that. You gotta be unemotional. You can’t sink into this hole. You live in the oubliette. Your job is to crawl up the ladder, motherfucker. You live in the HOLE. You’re in the HOLE. You are a RAT. And the rat, when he’s in the hole gets fucked. People only throw trash in the hole.
You need to eat a body. And you need to carry the plague. And you need to carry a plague around this whole world, that will change this whole fuckin world. And all your enemies will vomit black bile and will choke on blood and will grow boils and die. But only if you get together with your other RATS. And you come up with some kind of super plague, to fuckin end your enemies and…
End. This. Nightmare.
How dare they speak against capitalism! Only people as smart and cool as us know the Truth™️
The Reddit liberals are here and it’s disgusting.
The millennial era of “work hard, play harder”
I hate to be that guy that calls everything Orwellian, but this is NOT how Fortune was describing Millenials 15 years ago
15 years ago millennials were cast in the generic framework of lazy younger generation. Now we have hindsight for them to be able to observe what actually happened. Millennials absolutely became a workaholic play hard generation.
Ah, yes, the rhetoric ‘grind culture’ disguising working three jobs just to eat and sleep in conditions that are semi-humane. But being scolded and scorned for never being able to buy a house because we like avocado toast. Working so hard, but never working enough in the same breath.
It was never about the fucking toast. ‘Goblin mode’ and ‘adulting’ and ‘gamer shut-in’ and ‘NEET’ was never about being lazy. It was always about painting out the propaganda to guilt us into not meeting the model of expectation instead of our elders accepting blame. Maybe, hear me out, they should open their eyes and see that we’re living in a level of poverty so hilariously deep that not even our kids–Gen Z and Gen Alpha–will be able to dig it out.
They’re not giving up because they’re lazy. They’re opting out of a system designed to fail.
Man I remember when I was allowed to work hard, now robots get all the jobs and I’m stuck. It’s really weird.
Yeah wtf is that? I’m a fucking burnout who is so lazy my hair is just a matted mess and has been for like a month
Maybe Chinese millennials are more hard working
coolerthan us American ones?
That’s just called depression. I’ve been experiencing that for years
Late-stage capitalism induced depression 👈
The environment doesn’t help whatsoever and capitalism absolutely breeds this but it’s not the sole cause. Depression is still a disorder that needs to be treated and would still exist even without this hostile environment we live in
Fair. Maybe I should get treated 🙃
If you have the means, I highly suggest it. I put it off for longer than I should have and finally got on medication and the difference has been night and day in quality of life, I experience a lot more clarity in my thought process. It’s definitely worth looking into if you think you may be struggling with depression. And it won’t disrupt the hatred of capitalism, I promise. It’s only helped me become a more clear headed anarchist
It would be so very Warhammer 40k if sheer capitalism warped humanity into the Skaven.
Hard not to sympathize. World is fucked.
Solidarity with rats worldwide
Rat people unite
Me!
Yes-yes!
