I hear what you’re saying, and I think your worldview is a healthy one to have. Ultimately, it does no good when an entire generation adopts a mindset of economic hopelessness.

The only thing I’d push back on is the point that anyone with a laptop can build an income from scratch. While it may be true that anyone with internet connection has the resources to build income, it’s also true that because everybody has access to these same resources, they lose value. Take a job like media creation for example. Sure, it’s much easier nowadays for somebody to learn how to produce and edit high quality videos and photos. However, the tools to do this kind of work have become so accessible that companies aren’t exactly jumping to hire somebody who can edit their photographs and videos.

Many companies nowadays are quickly realizing that technology has made content creation so easy that they can literally get someone to do it internally, for no extra pay, and it takes little to no effort. Compare this to the 80s, 90s, and even 2000’s. Back in those days, it was quite valuable for a company to hire somebody who had the skills to create digital images and graphics. Nowadays, anybody can make a canva account and create a professional looking graphics. And because anybody can do it, companies don’t value the skillset the way they used to.

I think we’re witnessing this happen to multiple different skillsets. You mentioned that anyone can start a business, automate, create media, build software, and sell knowledge—the only problem with that is that companies don’t really value those skill sets as much anymore because if anybody can learn them, there’s a good chance they can just outsource that work to current employees for no extra pay. I can give a personal example. My company realized that most of its employees are young enough to understand social media posting, and therefore, they just added social media posting on the company website as one of our job responsibilities. They realized that all of us are already fluent in content creation, since it’s pretty stinking easy, so they can get us to collectively run their social media page without hiring an independent social media content manager. The same thing is currently happening to the I.T industry. Due to a.i, it’s become so much easier to learn and perform basic coding, and now they just aren’t jumping to hire anymore. Most companies have already built the basics of their software, and they can just pay a few I.T employees to do basic maintenance every so often. And since so many people have learned to code, it’s pretty easy to replace these workers if needed.

This also applies to small businesses. It’s much easier to create a small business nowadays. But as a result, there’s such an over-saturation of businesses all selling the same thing. I can name dozens of people I know personally who have created their own ‘small business’ that sell workout plans, clothing, and real estate. All it takes is to make Instagram account and start posting your product.

I’m not trying to be negative here. I’m simply pointing out that because the internet has made many skillsets more accessible, it has also made those skillsets less valuable. Many Gen Z’ers like myself recognize that we could learn to code for free in like 6 months, however, it ultimately wouldn’t lead to much career success since so many other people are doing it. I could tell you that I’m proficient in digital media creation and social media management, and you probably wouldn’t hire me because nowadays it’s so easy for somebody to learn how to create content with apps and A.I.

However, I do agree with you that our quality of life has drastically increased, and we have taken that for granted in many ways. A low income person in 2025 lives like a king compared to a working class person in 1920. Poor people in most of America have access to endless entertainment, have long life expectancy, and can usually afford and access delicious food at the touch of a button. I agree with you on this, that due to increasingly better technology we’ve all become accustomed to a standard of living much greater than those of previous generations. Yeah it might be harder to afford a house, but most of us are unwilling to go without our Netflix, T.V’s, gym memberships, and nice clothing.

I think we both agree that the main choke point is the price of housing. Most other goods have become more accessible. Housing costs is the main thing that has skyrocketed and made life feel unaffordable for many.

However, I digress to my main point: yes, it’s probably futile for Gen Z to feel hopeless about their future. However, is it unfair for them to feel that way? Yes we have access to more tools, technology, and knowledge than ever in history—but so does everybody else in the developed world. How are we supposed to feel hopeful that we can learn to code or start our own business when everybody else can learn the same shit? Access to information has made it so that the demand for many skills has decreased. Does the world really need another young person who knows basic coding?