Scott Alexander

Still, I find this tangential to the main point.

Yes, a few conservatives complain that it's hard to have a single-income family, but most vibe-session complaints come from singles or dual-earner households.

4.

What about other countries?

Dionysus writes, quote, The link goes to a New York Times article which includes quotes like, quote,

Using apps like Red Note and Douyin, people are reviving memories of the 2000s and the early 2010s with photos of daring outfits, upbeat songs and vintage TV commercials, all of which, in different ways, evoke a time in China that pulsed with optimism.

Quote, the music back then throbbed with exuberance, brimming with the sense that the future could only get brighter, a middle-aged man said in a Red Note video.

Today's lyrics begin with lines like, we're trying our best to survive, end quote.

End quote.

The boom time beauty meme is the latest expression of a Gen Z counterculture born of disillusionment, the recognition that they may be the first generation in half a century unlikely to surpass their parents' standard of living, no matter how hard they try.

Over the past five years, this quiet resistance has taken many forms.

It began with lying flat, a refusal to join the rat race.

Some chose to pursue the run philosophy, or emigrating in search of freedom and brighter prospects.

Others declared themselves the last generation, vowing not to have children.

Still others embraced let it rot, giving up on difficult goals rather than battling for uncertain rewards.

To show they could care less about career prospects, many took to wearing gross outfits, in quotes, at work, end quote.

This is especially crazy in China, where GDP per capita is now ten times what it was during the boom years, in quotes, that everyone reminisces about.

This might be the smoking gun that people's economic beliefs are totally unmoored from how rich they are.

The Chinese story has an obvious moral.

People care about growth rate more than level.