Trigger warning: mentions of self harm.
I saw a video on Tik Tok of Nigel Farage recently. He claims there’s a tidal wave of change coming amongst Gen Z and that they’re completely different to people like me. He said:
‘Something remarkable is happening with Gen Z. Gen Z are completely different to the Millennials. Millennials talk about work-life balance and all this sort of thing. Whereas a large chunk of Gen Z want to get on. They want to get on. They want good jobs. They want to buy houses. They want to do stuff.’
At first glance, this might seem like a harmless observation about youth. Or even a responsible prompt by one of our parliament's representatives to get our youth back into work and motivated.
Beneath the surface, however, lies a dangerous narrative to pit generations against each other and demonise an age demographic that have overwhelmingly rejected Farage’s politics.
What the quote doesn’t tell you is he throws his hands in the air talking about work-life balance and screws his face up as if he’s mocking it. He also goes on to compare the ‘large chunk’ (in other words, those Gen Z’s that aren’t close to being millennials) to our parents and grandparents. Those that were able to enter a market of good jobs and easily-accessible housing.
If you think I’m reading too much into it, just yesterday he stood on a Reform UK podium and repeated again to the media ‘something interesting is happening with Gen Z,’ as he goes on to cite his Tik Tok followers and views.
He’s been successful, with tremendous and unprecedented help from the media, in doing so with people of different ethnic backgrounds in the UK and I would bet my bottom quid he’s doing the same thing with this.
His words are not only false but they’re also ignorant of the struggles and priorities of those navigating problems that generations before us do not understand.
At a time when mental health awareness has never been more critical and social cohesion in a precarious state, I’m calling out this dangerous plea.
Farage paints a simplistic picture of a generation he claims is uninterested in work-life balance and mental health. This is absolute nonsense. If anything, emphasis on these priorities show a level of intelligence and resilience, and Gen Zs are embracing this in numbers. We’re seeing a record of 18-24 year olds in non-traditional forms of work (the kind that aren’t picked up in data gathered by HMRC). Young people are waking up to a deeply flawed economic system and are making sound, astute judgements. They’re switched on.
And what the Zs and Millennials have in common is that we are both in the most challenging economic environment the UK has seen for decades. There is a struggle to find meaningful work, scarce prospects of owning your own home, and the cost of living crises means we can barely afford a few pints. Low wages make saving impossible. The housing market is inaccessible without dual incomes and financial support from parents.
In other words, the situation is grim.
Farage’s dismissal of mental health concerns is just plain wrong. An epidemic of anxiety and depression is not a buzz phrase. The evidence is material.
Younger people struggle to communicate. A go-to bond with others is trauma. Everyone has an experience including a friend and suicide. We constantly worry what others are thinking. Constantly analyse how we come across. What are people saying about me? How do I look? Why do I look like that? Why does my face look weird? Why can’t I edit it? Alexa, how do I edit my face? Where did that scar come from? Why can’t I stop scrolling? I feel on edge. Fomo. Shares. Likes. Threats. Mental health. Suicide. Harm. Insecurities. Regroup. Facetime. Comments. Pain. Struggle. Regroup. Why do I look like that? Why aren’t they replying? Likes. Threats. I feel on edge. Mental health. Endless scrolling. Please reply to me. Bills. Suicide. Please reply. Likes. Comments. Why aren’t you replying? Likes. Please share. I feel on edge. Mental health. Bad habits. Insecurities. I need a break. Why can’t I get a break? People. Need. A. F*cking. Break.
This isn’t to mention the disruption to education, careers, and social connections with others during pivotal years of our development as humans through the pandemic. Or what unemployment does to people, lack of job security. Useless health services. Rubbish food. Backlash for being politically active, being told you’re a nuisance for caring about something. Worse yet, being physically assaulted for it.
None of this is ‘lazy Millennials.’
…and like with everything Nigel Farage does, this is a political tool. He’s coming after people my age because he knows he won’t win us over. If he can pin everyone against people like me, much like mainstream media have successfully done with climate protesters, he’ll edge further up in the polls.
Farage is a deflector. He doesn’t want people focussing on the real reasons ordinary folk in the UK suffer inequality. That would expose him for who he truly is.
Don’t believe me? Watch the latest video by Led By Donkeys, exposing Farage’s lucrative £40k payout from a company called ‘Nomad Capitalist’ as a second job to his parliamentary duties. This company helps economic migrants transcend borders so they can avoid tax, despite his whole political portfolio circulating around the one passion of not letting people transcend British borders.
Or his latest interview with Sky News in which, when asked about Reform UK’s vetting failures after an MP was found to have violently attacked an ex-girlfriend, he used his Tik Tok following to avoid the question and walked out the interview.
This kind of environment, where dangerous figures thrive unchecked, is born out of a broader culture of mocking kindness and avoiding consequences of your behaviour by pointing at a societal minority and mocking them as well.
They want us to be fighting a culture war, because a class war makes them the minority we’re pointing at.
Farage’s spiteful attempt to disregard of people in my age demographic by peddling this completely fabricated claim that the youth of today are fascinated by capitalism and material gratification should pose as one of his many red flags. It normalises behaviours that many have worked so hard to get to a point of recognising as important. Encouraging kindness, showing emotional vulnerability as a sign of strength, looking after yourself… these are things that should be actively encouraged. Ambition and health go hand in hand.
We won’t overcome the crises of mental health by alienating people. That’s where the problem started.
If you’d like to share your own story on this subject, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. You’ll always have a voice on this platform.
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