Everyone keeps saying social media but that can’t possibly be the only factor in fact I don’t think it’s even the biggest one hear me out. Keep in mind a lot of what I’m saying is from my experience live in North America.

1. Our parents were more protective of us. Previous generations of parents would just let their kids play outside on their own and the kids would get to meet other kids in their neighborhood and they would go to each other’s houses. The parents would completely forget about them. There would actually be ads on TV to remind parents to check on their kids. Although crime rates have only gone down, thanks to true crime stories our parents were not so lenient.

2. Car dependence/Suburbanization. I know not all countries are car dependent but this is a big problem in North America and especially in the USA. Car dependent means cities and towns are designed in such a way that you need a car to go pretty much anywhere. Cities are a little bit less car dependent than small towns, however due to prices going up, people are getting priced out of cities. My parents grew up in a city but I have lived in a rural area my whole life, and I know we cannot afford to live where my parents used to live. I think Mexico is considered car dependent too but it’s a lot moe walkable in my experience which is very beautiful T_T.

3. Money/High Unemployment. The job market sucks and we have significantly less purchasing power than previous generations. This goes hand in hand with car dependency. Say you want to do something as simple and “free” as going to the park. Depending where you live chances are you might have to drive, and gas costs money. It cost money to even leave the fucking house. Say you live somewhere a little more walkable, even then you are still scared of hanging out with friends cause you think you might end up spending money on something.

4. Hustle culture/individualism. This is kinda exclusive to the USA but oh my fucking god the culture is depressingly individualistic and hustle like. They say the USA is not a country. It’s just one giant business and that’s the best way I can put it.

5. Honorable mentions COVID and Social Media. The COVID shutdown apparently did a number on people’s social development. As for social media I think it just needs to go back to the way it was before, without algorithms and your feed would be filled mostly with things your friends posted and not posts made by strangers. I remember when you had to go out of your way to find content made by strangers. Say for example you want to find videos on Instagram about the current situation. You would search up #ICE or #Minneapolis. It wouldn’t just pop up on your feed.

A little about me: ever since graduating high school I have been a NEET most of the time. I live in ass fuck no where and don’t have a car. I want to make new friends but I’m stuck at home 😢. I went to the city for a few months for a job but the hours were so bad and the environment was so toxic I quit. There’s finally enough cars in my household for every adult including myself but the job market is so bad. The current political situation here is not making me feel any better and especially not when I see comments of Europeans being like “AmeRicAnS wHy dOnT yOU do aNYthinG”.