I think for most members of my generation — the illustrious Gen Z crowd — it is a relatively common phenomenon to have a parent or other older adult turn and look at you, pleading with you to “save the world” or “be the change.” As an individual who is planning to attend law school and who has her sights set on a future in public interest and government work, I certainly get this plea a lot. 

For a time, it really did feel like my generation and I were going to change the world. There were certainly hateful and harmful outliers, but Gen Z was expected to be the most progressive generation yet. The generation with the most queer people, the generation to eliminate nicotine addictions, the generation to prioritize mental health. But in recent years, progress has fallen short as many of my peers succumb to rhetoric and propaganda that does nothing but push us backwards. We were so close to a bright future, a future of inclusion and progress, but we’re on a path of failure. It appears as if we are falling short of who we were destined to become.

The biggest indicator of this stumbling path we are on is the rise of what I’ve seen creators online dub “repackaged bigotry.” Sure, most people in our generation know not to say slurs, but plenty of people find words to use as a replacement. A prime example is asking people if they are “acoustic,” an algorithm-friendly way to say autistic. But really, people are just using it in the place of calling people the R-word. 

Another example is the reclamation of words that were originally used to demean being used by communities who feel like they can say those words as well. This would be a straight woman calling a gay man a “twink” or a gay man calling a woman a “bitch.” I am all for reclaiming such words, but not for someone who could be an oppressor using them thinking they get some sort of a pass.

It’s disappointing to witness so much progress slowly unravel while my generation, once deeply committed to change, succumbs to disillusionment and tumbles down dark paths.

There are a variety of reasons as to why Gen Z appears to be turning back the clock. Perhaps we can blame the rise of alt-right podcasters and the conservative extremism that seeped into a variety of different subcultures, creating pipelines to the alt-right before our very eyes. While Alex Jones and Ben Shapiro have cult followings, what really gets people tumbling down the path of antiquity is those who spoon-feed it to their watchers and listeners in seemingly non-political content. For example, fitness influencers who blame women for not being attracted to their watchers or vegan, granola creators whose holistic approach to medicine gets too close to science denial.

Or perhaps we can turn to a rising trend of anti-intellectualism and advanced literacy in this country. There is an alarming number of people who actively disvalue knowledge for knowledge’s sake. For example, when recent PhD graduate Ally Louks showed off on X, formerly known as Twitter, her thesis paper of olfactory ethics, X users flooded her comments and DMs ridiculing her and her thesis topic, not understanding that theses are supposed to be niche.

The response to her paper is telling of a bleak future that discounts education and educated people. This, along with the fact that most Americans cannot read above a 6th grade level, an incredible feat considering 87% of Americans have to graduate high school, is indicative of a less educated population who refuses to prioritize intellectual curiosity and progress.

There are plenty of reasons why Gen Z is slowly but surely coming up short. There are not enough hands on the human body, perhaps not even in the average Pitt class, to point to all of the reasons for the decline of progress. The rise of conservative propaganda through trad wife and old-money influences, the rampant use of Ozempic and the constant pressure to be selfish and individualist are just a few other examples. Regardless of what the exact reason or mix of reasons is, the fact is that Gen Z fell victim to it all. No one person was immune to it, and now nearly everyone is paying the consequences.

The last couple of years have been a life lesson in the fact that no one is immune to propaganda or manipulation. We are the “so close” generation, a generation so close to amazing things and unbound progress, but we are clearly failing at times when it matters most. We can only hope that we’ll one day find our way back.

Livia LaMarca is the assistant editor of the opinions desk who misses using the Oxford comma. She mostly writes about American political discourse, US pop culture and social movements. Write to her at lll60@pitt.edu to share your own opinions!