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The Global Loneliness Crisis & Gen Z Pet Peeves
46 Plays16 days ago
Loneliness, Gen Z culture clashes, and hilarious Amazon fails-this episode of Unsolicited Perspectives delivers it all! Experience the real, the raw, and the ridiculously funny in this episode of Unsolicited Perspectives! Hosts Bruce Anthony and his sister J. Aundrea crack open Sibling Happy Hour with a cocktail of spicy takes and unfiltered sibling banter that dives deep into today’s most relatable struggles. From the silent epidemic of loneliness sweeping across generations to the unique ways Gen Z draws conversational boundaries, Bruce and J. Aundrea don’t hold back.
You’ll laugh out loud as they share their most embarrassing Amazon fails-including drunken late-night orders that went hilariously wrong-and swap stories about social mishaps, family dynamics, and the awkward moments that make life memorable. The episode also tackles how technology, pop culture, and shifting generational values are shaping the way we connect-or disconnect-in modern society.
Whether you’re a Millennial feeling the sting of isolation, a Gen Z’er navigating new social rules, or just love a good story with a side of humor, this episode delivers insights, empathy, and entertainment in equal measure. #lonelinessepidemic #GenZ #amazon #mentalhealthmatters #digitalage #unsolicitedperspectives
🔔 Hit that subscribe and notification button for weekly content that bridges the past to the future with passion and perspective. Thumbs up if we’re hitting the right notes! Let’s get the conversation rolling—drop a comment and let’s chat about today’s topics.
For the real deal, uncensored and all, swing by our Patreon at patreon.com/unsolicitedperspectives for exclusive episodes and more.
Thank you for tuning into Unsolicited Perspectives with Bruce Anthony. Let's continue the conversation in the comments and remember, stay engaged, stay informed, and always keep an open mind. See you in the next episode!
#podcast #mentalhealth #relationships #currentevents #popculture #fyp #trending #SocialCommentary
Chapters:
00:00 Welcome to Unsolicited Perspectives 🎙️🔥💥
01:13 Sibling Happy Hour: Spicy Takes & Drinks 🍹🌶️
03:28 iPhone Disasters & Drunken Amazon Fails 📱🤦♂️
16:43 Loneliness Crisis EXPOSED: Why Half of Us Feel Isolated 😢🌍
21:42 Heart vs. Brain: The Hidden Health Toll of Feeling Alone 💔⚕️
25:36 The Hidden $154 Billion Problem: How Loneliness is Draining America 💸📉
27:39 Why We’re Still Lonely in a ‘Connected’ World'📲❌
30:51 Lockdowns vs. Loneliness: Did We Sacrifice Mental Health? 🏠😷
32:29 Tech Trap: Screens Stealing Real-Life Friendship 📱👥
35:36 Southern Struggles: Why Poverty & Loneliness Go Hand in Hand 🌎🏚️
39:32 Survival 101: Why Human Connection is as Vital as Food & Water ❤️💧
46:53 Gen Z Pet Peeves: Phrases That Make Them Cringe 🚫🗣️
56:43 Career Rebellion: Why Your 9-to-5 is SO Last Century! 💼🚀
01:05:10 Mic Drop Finale: Last Laughs & Parting Wisdom” 🎤✨
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Transcript
Language Sensitivity and Gen Z
00:00:00
Speaker
Are you lonely? Why is that? And why are there certain things that Gen Z is saying you can't say to them? We're going to get into it. Let's get it.
00:00:20
Speaker
Welcome. First of all, welcome. This is Unsolicited Perspectives. I'm your host, Bruce Anthony, here to lead the conversation in important events and topics that are shaping today's society. Join the conversation and follow us wherever you get your audio podcasts.
00:00:34
Speaker
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for our video podcasts and YouTube exclusive content. Rate, review, like, comment, share. Share with your friends, share with your family, hell, even share with your enemies.
Podcast Introduction and Topics
00:00:46
Speaker
On today's episode, it's the Sibling Happy Hour. I'm here with my sis, Jay Andrea. We're going to be dilly-dadding a little bit, and then we're going talking about this epidemic of loneliness that's spreading across not just the nation, but the world.
00:01:00
Speaker
And then we're going be talking about Gen Z versus everybody. But that's enough of the intro. Let's get to the show.
00:01:13
Speaker
What up, sis? What up, brudda? I can call it
00:01:20
Speaker
right. So I got a couple of things I need to get off my chest. Okay. Somebody literally asked me a couple of days ago, hey, where can I find the YouTube exclusive stuff?
Media Consumption Misunderstandings
00:01:36
Speaker
Um...
00:01:39
Speaker
What? Yes. Somebody literally asked me, hey, where can I find the YouTube exclusive stuff? um YouTube. too ah that that I looked him dead in the face and I was like,
00:01:52
Speaker
oh what do you mean? Like, I don't know where I can find it. Said and it's right there in the words that you said. Yeah. Yeah. But where can I find a YouTube exclusive stuff?
00:02:08
Speaker
On YouTube. On YouTube.
Amazon Anecdotes and Challenges
00:02:10
Speaker
Oh, well, how can I get to it? I mean, we've got a whole website. Y'all have a website?
00:02:16
Speaker
Yeah. You can also subscribe and like follow us on YouTube. Yep. You could do all of that. That's also thing that you can do. So this person contacted me. is was like, oh, I found it. i was like, yeah, because there's a whole playlist that says YouTube's YouTube made it a podcast.
00:02:35
Speaker
that's on YouTube. So YouTube, you can listen and watch podcasts on YouTube. So our podcast is already on YouTube. right YouTube labeled our YouTube exclusive stuff as another podcast. And I was like, you know what?
00:02:49
Speaker
going to roll with Just, hey, we here. We here. And i looked up on there because I was like, how many YouTube exclusives have we done? It's 40. There is over 400 minutes of content yeah on our YouTube channel.
00:03:05
Speaker
Yeah. Exclusively. On YouTube. On YouTube. It's like almost eight hours worth the content. It probably is equivalent to eight hours because I'm saying roughly 400 because it's 40.
00:03:18
Speaker
And we sometimes some of them are like 20 minutes long. So I was like, wow, we pump out a lot of content. Yeah. Content that you didn't ask to pump out. Listen, got a question the people you surround yourself with. Hold on. No, no, no, no, no. This was somebody who listens to this. This isn't somebody like I know personally. Oh, okay.
00:03:39
Speaker
What? Yeah, no, this was somebody that DM'd me. Oh, gotcha. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Somebody that DM'd me. But I do have somebody who contacted me personally and said this.
00:03:51
Speaker
I really like your podcast. I watch it every day on TikTok. I said, Mm-hmm. No, you can't get our podcast on TikTok. Yeah, no, I watch it every day.
00:04:03
Speaker
No, no. What you're watching is
Amazon's Tariff Transparency and Gen Z's Emotional Intelligence
00:04:06
Speaker
a minute clip, a minute TikTok from a 60-minute show. who Who has one-minute podcast?
00:04:16
Speaker
That is random. That are just random podcasts. collections of thoughts. yeah i mean But I mean, usually the the clips kind of start in the middle of a thought.
00:04:27
Speaker
Right. You know what i mean? Like it's not cohesive. Like it's not a full show. I guess you could do a podcast in one minute, but you I don't know what it would be.
00:04:38
Speaker
I don't know what it would be. ah It would have to be very tightly structured. It wouldn't just be us starting in the middle of a thought, not finishing it. yeah Like, you don't watch our show every day. Yes. I was like, no, that's not the podcast.
00:04:59
Speaker
That is one minute of a 60 minute, sometimes 60 minute plus show. yeah Oh, really? Because then they said, you and your sister should argue more. Y'all agree on too much. And I was like,
00:05:11
Speaker
ah If you watch the podcast? you watch the show. Yeah, we don't all, I mean, we do tend to agree the majority of the time. Yeah, i mean, we have very similar values and beliefs, but there some times where you'll put forth something and I'll be like, I don't agree with that. Or sometimes I'll say something you'll be no, that's dead wrong.
00:05:31
Speaker
So it's like, like I mean, that's... Yeah, that's the whole dynamic. That's it. That's the show. That's the show. was like, me and her get into it. Matter of fact, there's been a couple of times we've gotten
Generational Language Disconnects
00:05:45
Speaker
into it that other people were like, are y'all okay? And they're like, yeah, we're fine. Yeah. We're siblings, y'all. We're fine.
00:05:53
Speaker
I threw a cup on her head and it bounced across the room and, you know, she still loved It didn't go that far. It didn't go that far. bounced across the room. Okay. Well... um I can't say it's just people contacting me that's dumb because I did something dumb.
00:06:06
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Last night,
Workplace and Career Expectations Across Generations
00:06:10
Speaker
not in a drunken stupor, but in kind of like a buzz stupor, I yeah broke the case to my iPhone. The case is, a so ah it surrounds the entire phone.
00:06:20
Speaker
yeah But the part that covers the actual touching part of your phone, the part that you watch, is tempered glass. oh Crack that bad boy, right? So I was like, oh, how bad is it cracked? So I was taking the the protective part, ah take the piece apart,
00:06:36
Speaker
and cracked it even more. i was like, oh, this is real glass. thought this wasn't real real glass. No, it's real glass. Yeah, it's real glass. And so I was like, okay, it should be fine. And then started using my phone and I was like, nope, this piece of glass has been stuck on my finger. Got to order a new one.
00:06:51
Speaker
yeah Yeah. So in that and late night haze that I ordered probably like 11, 1130, literally before the lights are about to go off. ah No, the lights are off.
The Loneliness Epidemic and Solutions
00:07:00
Speaker
Literally before I'm about to Turn off my phone. Well, yeah get off my phone.
00:07:06
Speaker
I order a replacement. yeah Replacement's supposed to be here at my place, 7 a.m., 11 a.m. It's 2, 11 a.m. I'm like, bet. You know, I won't i won't like cut up my finger. This is all good.
00:07:17
Speaker
yeah Woke up this morning. It had been delivered to another address. Yes. yeah And this is the second time over a span of four or five months that I've done something like this. When I was in Atlanta for New Year's, I ordered a whole bunch of stuff from GoPuffs and was mad. Like, why haven't they delivered it yet? And I checked my phone and they had absolutely delivered it.
00:07:39
Speaker
To my place in Washington, D.C. Yes. yeah um It would help if we didn't have 17 addresses, but I don't want to say too much because yeah I don't think we're really supposed to be sharing an Amazon account. so she I don't think it's a problem.
00:07:57
Speaker
I don't think it's problem either. I don't think it's a problem. But, ah yeah. So, the person you sent it to thought they had reached out to you.
00:08:09
Speaker
To let you know that they got it. No. Because they reached out to your namesake.
00:08:20
Speaker
And then called me and was like, I feel so dumb. doctor I reached out to the wrong one. For those that don't know, I'm a junior. So that means this person reached out to my father. Yes, yes. i buy And we look...
00:08:36
Speaker
and we look
Emotional Intelligence and Tradition Challenges
00:08:38
Speaker
almost like twins. So even if you just click on the profile, you're like, yeah, that's Bruce. No, that's not me. That person is 20 plus years older than me, but he's aging well. And yes I'm aging as I'm aging. So I guess that's the easiest thing.
00:08:53
Speaker
But i will I will return your your package to yeah to Amazon. Yeah, please return that to Amazon. I want a new one. so that I think it's downstairs right now. So when I'm done with this, I go downstairs. I do believe I got the notification that it was delivered. Well, I got a bunch of stuff being delivered today because I needed some body wash, some toothpaste, and some mouthwash. you All stuff that are essential.
00:09:15
Speaker
Yeah. And ah so weird're you we're not doing the the Amazon. but Is there Amazon boycott? because Because you was like, i ain't going to the store. I'm just go order this on Amazon.
00:09:27
Speaker
While we boycott, look, I told you, like, I can boycott a lot. But Amazon is where I draw the line. It is too much. Amazon is too important to my life. You know, I'm not going to cut out Michael Jackson.
00:09:39
Speaker
ah I'm not going to stop listening to Bad Boy, and I'm not going to stop listening to Amazon. Okay? I'm using Amazon. So, yes. No, um I'm still using Amazon. He ain't hein't even really tied to Amazon like that no more. No, and Amazon actually has... ah They're threatening... Or they're actually going to do it. I don't know.
00:10:01
Speaker
No, they reneged. Oh, they did? Yeah. Boom. Ladies and gentlemen, which are what we were about to talk about is Amazon was about to show the tariff, the the reason why the price increases and the direct correlation with tariffs. Yeah. And the administration threw a fit and Amazon backed down. He called Jeffrey...
00:10:21
Speaker
Personally. yeah And they backed down.
Gender Stereotypes and Generational Adaptation
00:10:24
Speaker
so Yeah. Yeah. No. But no, I'm not going to boycott. I wish they had done it. I wish they had done it. Yeah. I mean, I wish they hadn't backed down, but they backed down. You know, there's one thing that I can say about a certain population in this country. They soft as hell.
00:10:39
Speaker
They like to claim that they're strong, and but they are soft. They will bend to the knee. Where other people in this country from different walks of life will never bend to the knee. No.
00:10:52
Speaker
Generally speaking, there are certain elements of that population. and talking about us. yeah Okay, I'm just going to go ahead say, I'm talking about us. There are certain people in our population that will bend to the knee, case in point, Blacks for Trump.
00:11:07
Speaker
you Right, right. So so they will. Well, they day lost. That's all. They just lost, him
Listener Engagement and Support
00:11:14
Speaker
and I hope they find their way home. ah Okay, but i I don't think they will.
00:11:20
Speaker
But no. Stacey Dash found her way back. Did she? I think so. Well, that's good because she's still fine and I want to be a fan of hers again. but i hate I hate when I can't be fans of fine women.
00:11:35
Speaker
Yeah, she she did. She did apologize for her past support of Trump. so Okay. and And her offensive comments. So that was a couple years ago. So as far as I can tell, she found her way back. She found a way back. Yeah. Okay.
00:11:51
Speaker
It's possible, y'all. Y'all can come back. Well, Roscoe is barking, ladies and gentlemen, because... Yes. Oh, yeah. And because I was going put him outside and someone promised that they would watch him.
00:12:04
Speaker
Right. And that person opened the door because I heard the charm go off. And I say it all the time. I say it all the time. This person that we are talking about specifically trying to sabotage the so the show.
00:12:17
Speaker
Because every time they were recording or doing something, yeah they somehow interrupted recording. I love this person with all of my heart. Would give my life with her. It's the only person I would actually go to jail for. yeah But is consistently sabotaging the recording of this show.
00:12:37
Speaker
it' it it It's my fault. I should have gone my instinct. and put them outside. But... It's comedic. It's comedic, though. It's comedic with the timing.
00:12:48
Speaker
Like, every time. Ladies and gentlemen, if y'all watch the behind-the-scenes or pay attention to the after-hours, you'll know exactly what i'm talking about because I don't cut that out. I leave it in the behind-the-scenes, which, by the way, on the YouTube show, if you finish watching all the way to the end, as soon as I say, I'll holler, there's a whole segment behind-the-scenes. Sometimes it's two or three minutes of us...
00:13:09
Speaker
being raw and uncut. Y'all should check that out too. yeah We're a little self-involved here, but you finished... Your second semester of grad school. Yes. I am exhausted. After we finish TAFE-ing, I'm going back to sleep.
00:13:25
Speaker
Oh, Lord Jesus. And I'm just planning on sleeping for the rest of the week. I'm very, very tired. My grades are starting to roll in They're A's. So I'm happy. Of course they Of course they are.
00:13:37
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, naturally. um So... as those continue to roll in but i i actually i got to participate and uh in some really good final projects including building an ai powered resume generator um like it was like that was probably that's probably the coolest thing i've done so far so i'm very very happy about how this semester went i'm very tired ah
00:14:08
Speaker
but That's all I can say about that. You better get you a poppy soft drink and put some caffeine into this. um By the way, I'm a huge fan of poppy. What is poppy?
00:14:20
Speaker
Poppy is the probiotic soft drink. Oh, Alipop. No, I, I, Ollipop, I don't know, didn't hear the ollie in there, I just see poppy. P-O-P-P-I.
00:14:31
Speaker
It's like, there's like, it's a classic grape and apple, so looks like a, like an old school kind of can. No, that's not what I'm talking about. Oh, well, Ollipop is the probiotic soda that I like.
00:14:46
Speaker
Oh, well, how much is, how much is Ollipop? Because poppy is kind of expensive. Olipop, I think it was like $2. Yeah, same thing as Poppy. You know where I found one? Oh, see. Olipop versus Poppy. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Poppy, Poppy. Well, I like Poppy because I love it when they call me Big Poppa.
00:15:02
Speaker
Okay. It's true. No, but I got my little Poppy grape. It tastes like Welch's grape with little bit of tequila in there. Yeah. It's good. It's settling my stomach. I feel good because I just had some chicken wings and it was a little iffy because it was Cajun.
00:15:17
Speaker
Okay, so Olipop. is plant is a blend of plant-based fibers and botanicals. Poppy emphasizes apple cider vinegar for prebiotics. So they are different.
00:15:30
Speaker
yeah ah But they're going to keep you regular. They're both going do that. And look, as you get older, ladies and gentlemen, this is disgusting, but as you get older, ladies and gentlemen... Listen, regularity is the key. Becomes important.
00:15:47
Speaker
I know a person one time thought they was having a heart attack. They just needed a fart.
00:15:54
Speaker
Moving on.
00:15:57
Speaker
On that note, ladies and gentlemen, we're going get into loneliness next.
00:16:09
Speaker
Jay, you laughed when I brought this up and I was like, I want to talk about this. You didn't realize it was an epidemic, did you? um You know, like an actual, like real epidemic? No.
00:16:26
Speaker
Like figuratively an epidemic? Yeah, I knew that. Mugs is out here a lonely. Right, no. But it's literally... An epidemic. So the U.S. Surgeon General and the World Health Organization have declared loneliness and social isolation a public health epidemic affecting people of all ages and backgrounds.
00:16:46
Speaker
Loneliness is the distressing feeling from perceived isolation or unmet social needs distant from simply being alone. So what does that mean, ladies and gentlemen? How did this become an epidemic? Well, nearly one in two adults in the U.S.,
00:17:02
Speaker
One in two. So 50% have reported experience loneliness, making it as widespread as smoking, diabetes, and or
00:17:17
Speaker
anxiety. Yeah. I don't know if we yeah got lost No, I just wanted... It was a very dramatic pause. Yeah, it was a dramatic pause. It was dramatic pause. In 2024, about two in five Americans said they deal with loneliness sometimes, jews sometimes usually, or all the time.
00:17:35
Speaker
Hold on. So 40% of the population said they deal with it sometimes. yeah Or usually. Yeah. Or all the time.
00:17:48
Speaker
Yes. 30% of adults feel loneliness at least once a week. 10% say they are lonely every day. Young adults 18 to 34 are especially affected, with 34% reporting loneliness every day or several times a week.
00:18:05
Speaker
Now, when i when I read out those statistics and I give you those statistics, can you see why organizations like the health the World Health Organization and the U.S. Surgeon General is saying, no, no, no, no no this is an epidemic?
00:18:21
Speaker
Yeah, because, i mean... ah feelings ah is different from being alone. Loneliness, you know, is is like, I don't want to say it's like a mental health condition, but it definitely affects your mental health. And what's what's that going to do?
00:18:38
Speaker
That's a chain reaction affecting your physical health as well. We're going to get into that. We're going get into that. But I remember a ah friend telling me with tears in her eyes.
00:18:52
Speaker
She says, I know I'm not alone.
00:18:56
Speaker
but I feel alone. yeah And I was like, well, if you opened up talked to people a little bit more than they probably wouldn't feel alone if you wasn't so closed off that yeah you probably wouldn't feel alone. It sounds like to me that you take it there need to take some therapy and talk to a therapist about your situation.
00:19:11
Speaker
yeah But yeah, loneliness is not the same as being alone. ah I had to tell people, there are people sometimes, because you know, the last couple of years has been a little different, but for the most part over the last, don't know, seven, eight years, basically ever since y'all moved down to Atlanta, I've spent Christmas and Thanksgiving by myself. I like it that way.
00:19:32
Speaker
My parents are not together anymore. I'm not going to split between them. It's a hassle. So I see them beforehand and leave the day to myself. It's typically a day that I plan out on Thanksgiving or Christmas. I drink a bottle of Crown Royal or bourbon.
00:19:50
Speaker
He didn't mean the whole bottle, y'all. Sometimes, one time I did drink the whole bottle. Damn it. I drank from 12. I'm really trying to make the sound not bad. But that was the goal, though. though i it was the goal. I drank from 12 in the afternoon to 2 o'clock in the morning.
00:20:04
Speaker
yeah And actually, if you think about it, there's only so many shots that are in the bottle. And when mixing it with a mixer, is it's somebody who's 6'4", 250 pounds can easily do that and and feel fine, especially if they're eating.
00:20:19
Speaker
heavy food like Thanksgiving or Christmas food. Stop giving me that look. Okay? I just wanted to do it anyway. Okay. So I remember telling people, and they were like, oh, that's so sad that you're going to be feeling lonely. i was like, no, the hell I'm not.
00:20:34
Speaker
yeah i was like, being alone and feeling lonely are two different things. I crave being alone. I'm not lonely. So loneliness is... is ah feeling or disconnection.
00:20:48
Speaker
Right. Right. Being alone is just, I'm physically by myself. Yeah. A lot of times people choose to be physically by themselves.
00:20:59
Speaker
Very rarely If ever, probably never do people choose to feel disconnected. And that's the thing, the difference between, okay, I might be alone physically, but not be lonely. I might be surrounded by people physically and be incredibly lonely.
00:21:17
Speaker
So it, it, They're not one in the same at all, but they often get conflated. Just because I'm by myself doesn't mean I'm lonely. I could be surrounded by people and feel ah completely unseen or or disconnected.
00:21:32
Speaker
Yeah. So you brought up the health risk factors. What are the health risk quan consequences? Loneliness increases the risk of premature death by 26%. Yeah.
00:21:43
Speaker
percent yeah And social isolation by 29%. The health impact is equivalent to smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day greater than the risk from obesity or physical inactivity.
00:21:58
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Associated with a 29% increase in the risk of heart disease, a 32% increased risk of stroke, and a 50% greater chance of developing in dementia among older individuals.
00:22:13
Speaker
This is all linked to higher rates of anxiety, depression, and even suicide. So when somebody is telling you they feel lonely, yeah pay attention to them.
00:22:24
Speaker
Because if you think so you would comment on somebody who's smoking 15 cigarettes a day, you would comment on somebody gorging on food, constantly gaining weight and saying, hey, yo, you know, your diabetes, your cholesterol, your blood sugar, all that's going to go up.
00:22:42
Speaker
you Are you OK? Do you need some help? When somebody says that they are lonely, not alone, lonely, it's a big issue. Yeah. Yeah. So what are the, go ahead. It, it from, cause I, I had a chance to go through the the u S surgeon general's report is it is out there. It's, it's about 82 pages. If you, you know, want the internet to read it to you, you can. So, but it is out there, but social isolation, they were saying also um it impairs your immune function, right? Cause you're not out there.
00:23:21
Speaker
around people building up immunities to things. It makes you more vulnerable to infections and slower recovery from illnesses. I mean, there's you you don't think about it, but there is like a chronic stress associated with loneliness and social isolation.
00:23:39
Speaker
Yeah, because it's a feeling just like the just like anxiety. and Overwhelming anxiety can lead to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease. Like loneliness is is a feeling and affects people the same way. So parents, when your kids say to you, they might not even know, they might not say loneliness. They might say they feel alone, which a feeling.
00:24:03
Speaker
is equivalent if you don't if you can't contextualize the difference between being alone and loneliness. They might say, I feel alone, which means the majority of the time they feel loneliness.
00:24:16
Speaker
Yeah. That's not something to say, well, go out there and make some friends. That's not helping them. Yeah, because you, one, they may have them. Yes. They may have plenty of friends or close friends, but it's still that feeling of isolation, that feeling of I'm not connected to anyone in any meaningful way.
00:24:40
Speaker
Mm-hmm. That's what causes the the depression, the anxiety, those feelings of social isolation. And it was funny that you mentioned like the issues about cognitive decline and dementia.
00:24:54
Speaker
Yeah, you can't just be by yourself talking to yourself now. i have some good conversations. I've having some dope conversations with with myself. myself. Yeah. But no, you need interaction to stimulate your brain and stimulate your mind. You need to have, you know, deep conversations with people. You need to interact with people.
00:25:13
Speaker
And that can help reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia. Yeah, people out here not doing it. Sudoku, you and your bed playing Sudoku is not going to get it done. It's not enough. It's not enough. All right.
00:25:29
Speaker
So for those people out there that are saying, you know, those are their those are other people's problems. That's their problems. It has nothing to do with me. Okay, let me explain to you how it does. There are economic and social costs to loneliness. Loneliness costs U.S. employers an estimated one hundred and $154 billion annually due to stress-related ah absenteeism, job turnover, and reduced productivity.
00:25:55
Speaker
Social isolation among older adults alone leads to $6.7 billion in excess Medicare spending each year. Yeah. Lower academic achievement and worse performance at work also are linked to loneliness and isolation.
00:26:12
Speaker
and So some of those kids that are struggling in school, they're not dumb. now Some of them. I'm learning as I get that became an adult. No, some of them are absolutely dumb.
00:26:23
Speaker
But some of them are not dumb. They just feel lonely. Yeah. They feel alone. and and And when you get to a point where you feel so disconnected from the world around you, you start to lose the importance of work, school, relationships, social networks, things like that. You start to, you lose that feeling of like, these things are important. I need to focus on these things because, know,
00:26:58
Speaker
The depression is so severe. The stress is so severe. I'm sure you get higher rates of burnout because you don't have that social outlet of people you can go and talk to after work at happy hour and and, you know, vent and things like that. So, yeah, definitely ah feel like there's certainly an echo. I mean, the study showed that, but there's certainly an economic and a social impact and a cost.
00:27:23
Speaker
Yeah. So people out there thinking this doesn't pertain to me at all. Yeah, does because it costs. So what are the causes and the modern trends? So increased mobility. People move more often for work, school or retirement, disrupting social networks.
00:27:39
Speaker
What we were talking about earlier, you got to have your crew. Yeah. So did you get vent to go to happy hour, do things with? There's also been a digital shift. More interactions happen online with less face-to-face contact, especially post-pandemic.
00:27:55
Speaker
That is an issue with I seeing in Gen Z and later Gen Alpha. I don't know what Gen Alpha is going to be like. These kids really don't be interacting a whole lot. I saw a statistic that young tenderonies are looking out...
00:28:14
Speaker
Young Tenderonis are looking towards older men because younger men lack the interpersonal communicational skills that older men have because older men such as myself, but I'm not messing with no young Tenderonis, older men such as myself because we grew up Without texting.
00:28:34
Speaker
Yeah. Having a call on the phone. Mac, speak to Miss Pearl before I could speak to Lisa. How you doing, Miss Pearl? How you doing today? Yeah, no, mom is doing good. Dad is doing good.
00:28:45
Speaker
yeah okay, ah Juneberg is doing that. Okay, that's is Lisa around? Yes, ma'am. I mean, they don't know nothing about that. yeah So ah digital age is really affecting stuff. okay Social media, while it connects people virtually, it often reduces meaningful live interactions and increased feelings of inadequacy, especially among teens.
00:29:08
Speaker
The COVID-19 pandemic intensified isolation by cutting off in-person support systems and routine. And routines. Younger people now spend 70% less time in face-to-face socialization with peers compared to two decades ago. That's exactly what I was just talking about. Yeah. The pandemic certainly affected the youth population because it cut them off physically and and socially from their peers in a time where it that is literally the most important.
00:29:41
Speaker
Yeah. And literally your whole world is what happens at school. Yes. And so to be cut off physically and socially from building and and these connections, they definitely missed out on some pretty key development time.
00:30:01
Speaker
So i was in a um spirited debate with a person that said this was a consequence. You could say a fight. No, because I don't fight. You know me, I don't fight.
00:30:13
Speaker
i do spirited debates where I listen to the other side and I'd be like, well, that's dumb. ah Honestly, this is what I do. I may not say it out loud all the time, but it's definitely what I'm thinking the majority of the time. Got it. But the person had a very valid point because they were talking about essentially this thing, that kids were absolutely affected from the lockdown.
00:30:36
Speaker
and But their argument was that's why the lockdown didn't need to happen. And I was like, okay, it's not quite that simple. People were dying. And then their argument was, well, people die.
00:30:48
Speaker
And I was like, oh, that's pretty stupid. So yeah if there are fires that are raging all over ah certain place, kind of like what's happened in California where this person is from, then we shouldn't try to help those people not burn up from the fires.
00:31:04
Speaker
you know That's not what I'm saying. I said, no, that's exactly what you're saying. There are going to be some consequences. for the lockdown, and unfortunately, the kids were absolutely affected.
00:31:15
Speaker
I don't know what the long-term effects are going to be. yeah But there was a meme that was going around, and it was... Remember in high school, maybe even in middle school, where you would have like science lab and they would have these big, long like tables that you had to stand up, but they were still tables that you did like labs on. And yeah it was big enough to fit like six to eight people.
00:31:39
Speaker
yes And the meme said, this is where I've had some of the greatest conversation and met some of the funniest people. And then also the lunch table, like yeah those are really, really You don't realize it at the time. Really, really important with tot for developing your communication skills.
00:31:55
Speaker
yeah And a lot of these kids don't have them. And even now that they're back in school, I don't know necessarily that they are doing that. I think that they still will get together in groups and get on their phone and start texting other folks instead of sitting around each other in a circle, just chopping it up like we used to back in the day.
00:32:15
Speaker
Well, it's, it's, I mean, it's, you see it when you go out to any kind of like social event, right? Like you go to a concert and you look out and everybody's watching the concert through their phone as they're recording it instead of like being there participating, like,
00:32:30
Speaker
You know, i i would meet people at concerts because you just you having a good time and the people around you and your section, you all are partying like that's that kind of even, you know, superficial connection.
00:32:45
Speaker
it still enhances the experience. But now it's mostly people watching things through their phone as they're recording the thing. And it's more about showing that you were there as opposed to like being present.
00:32:58
Speaker
Mm hmm. and In the moment. And i do notice that more and more people are less present in these like social moments than they were in the past.
00:33:14
Speaker
I think I told you the story when I went to the Janet Jackson concert that at first I was doing exactly that. Because I was filming so much of it. Because there is a part of it that I want to capture, right? I was filming so much of it, I kept raising up my phone for each start of the new song. And then I was just like, why am I watching this through my phone? I'm here. I'm seven rows away from Janet Jackson. yeah And I said, you know what? I got enough stuff, memories on my phone from this.
00:33:40
Speaker
Let me just be here and be present. yeah And I had a greater experience yeah just just doing that. All right. But who is most at risk for this epidemic of loneliness?
00:33:52
Speaker
Well, older adults, one in four globally experience social isolation. Adolescents, 5% to 15% worldwide report loneliness.
00:34:04
Speaker
Single adults are nearly twice as likely to feel lonely weekly compared to married adults. This is 39 to 22%. So single adults compared to married to adults, 39% feel loneliness, 22% of married adults feel loneliness, which is crazy to me because you married. but that's but again But again, loneliness is not just the state of physically being alone. Yeah, but I equate loneliness with loneliness.
00:34:33
Speaker
Okay, I equate loneliness with not being able to connect with anybody, right? Right. So think about if, you know, you initially had that connection when you guys first got together, but then now you have kids.
00:34:44
Speaker
You know what? And somebody got promoted at work. So they're working more hours. Or you're leaning towards a divorce and you just don't know it because that's a lonely feeling. Or you feel absolutely alone. A lot of us are, you know, latchkey. So you got maybe a parent living with you now or something like that, that you're taking care of an older parent. You get these life stressors and you start to feel less and less connection to your partner. And there you go.
00:35:10
Speaker
Now you're feeling lonely. Yep. That's what that song was. I'm so sick of feeling lonely. dinner Well, my man goes out with his homies. Yeah. Yeah.
00:35:22
Speaker
All right. Graphic. Disparities. Nope. You got part of the word. Geographic disparities.
00:35:33
Speaker
Geographic disparities.
00:35:37
Speaker
Just forgot that whole geo, huh? Just left it right off. Just left it right off. No reason. No no reason. That is it is a very different thing. Graphic disparities versus geographic disparities is two different things.
00:35:53
Speaker
But the graph geographic disparities is graphic. it But graphic in terms of a graph.
00:36:03
Speaker
It's actually, the thing is actually describing the thing. It means in terms of a graph. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. All right. disparities, ladies and gentlemen. States in the deep South with higher poverty rates report the highest levels of extreme loneliness.
00:36:20
Speaker
Yeah, if you in the deep South And you poor. That's a double negative to me. Because I know cause i know we technically in the South right now. I'm technically in the South. You in the deep South. Yes. Okay, this is what they're talking about. does They say states in the deep South.
00:36:38
Speaker
You in the deep South. I'm in the South. I'm in the northernmost part of the South. They don't even call where I'm from, really, the South. and Not really.
00:36:50
Speaker
But they're experiencing extreme loneliness. And where you live does matter because loneliness is a disconnect, is a feeling. If you don't got nothing good going on in your life, you're going to feel absolutely alone.
00:37:04
Speaker
Yeah. that And it's not just that. I mean... Poverty and and loneliness, I think, are extremely interconnected. Like, I think about think about wanting to go to social events, but you ain't got the money to do it.
00:37:21
Speaker
Can't do it. You can't go out to eat. you can't You can't go to a concert. You can't go to the club. You can't. And I mean, you can't. You you don't have the, like, that that financial aspect keeps you from these kinds of activities.
00:37:37
Speaker
Not only that, think about Poverty and and having a stable living condition. Right? if you're housing If your housing is insecure, we constantly move and you can't even make relationships with your neighbors.
00:37:52
Speaker
Right.
00:37:54
Speaker
You know, poverty, you don't you don't have friends at work. Right? Yeah. If you're unemployed, you ain't even making work friends. Right. And um what I've learned as an adult is a lot of adults, their form of communication and socialization is through work.
00:38:14
Speaker
Yeah. um You make a lot of your friends through work. but Yeah, actually. Yeah. ah um Yeah. I would say that most of my friends are to work. Yeah. And so if you are unemployed or you have like, which typically is like a low paying job, right? What are we talking about? We're talking about jobs with long hours, typically a lot of labor, right?
00:38:40
Speaker
Sometimes it's solitary work unless you work in customer service. But even then, you're not building meaningful connections in customer service, right? You're just answering questions, you're ringing people up, you're dealing with hundreds, sometimes thousands of people on or your shift.
00:38:56
Speaker
You're not getting, it's still very limited social engagement and in and workplaces like that. So there's a, I would say, there's a lot of ways in which poverty definitely is tied to loneliness and vice versa.
00:39:12
Speaker
So sick of being lonely. So what is the community and the societal impact? Once again, for those people out there that saying, well, I don't feel lonely. This doesn't affect me. We point out again how it does affect you. Loneliness affects not just individuals, but also the health of neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces. Social connection is a fundamental human need. It's as vital as food, water, and shelter. Basically, we need social interaction, social connection, social communication.
00:39:45
Speaker
yeah We need it in order to survive. It's the reason why every time you see these movies of people trapped, Cast Away, what's the movie when Matt Damon was on Mars for a long time?
00:39:56
Speaker
The Martian. the Yeah. The Martian. I was about to say the man on Mars, but the Martian. Yeah, the Martian. The Martian. These people, you know, Castaway, who was his best friend?
00:40:09
Speaker
A damn volleyball. But it's a thing of Wilson was real. And and ah to him, because... To him, yeah. Yes, because that kind of social interaction, like you said, is so important to our physical and mental health that he had to make that volleyball real in his mind. Or he would go insane.
00:40:31
Speaker
Yep. That's the reason why that one of the most inhumane things that we do in prison is send people to the hole where they have no communication, no light. They're stuck in darkness for a week, two weeks, three weeks, a month.
00:40:45
Speaker
There's nothing rehabilitative about that. No, we're not going to get into that because we know the prison system isn't rehabilitative at all. But the point I'm trying to make is loneliness is absolutely an epidemic. So the next time somebody says to you,
00:41:02
Speaker
I feel lonely. If they're your people, reach out to them. Even if you busy, do something to connect with them. It could be something as simple as a FaceTime. And if you ain't got an Android WhatsApp app does have video chat. Now WhatsApp app.
00:41:17
Speaker
Yeah, it's WhatsApp, but I call it WhatsApp. I don't give damn what nobody say. That makes more sense to me than WhatsApp. It is WhatsApp. But the app is up.
00:41:28
Speaker
like It's WhatsApp. Like, what's up WhatsApp. like The app is the up. That's the play on words. No, I don't like that play. It's stupid. Okay. Well, anyway, loneliness. but um it ah When you recognize that you're in a state of loneliness, you have to get intentional about creating connections and building community. And like, like if like I know i have a tendency when I get down to isolate.
00:42:00
Speaker
So because I recognize that about myself, I will schedule check-ins. with family or friends. I'll just, I'll call, I'll video chat, I'll like, I'll say, let's go out and do something because the the moments where I feel like I should isolate are those exact moments where I need to be building community and and engaging with community.
00:42:22
Speaker
And it's like, and there are so many clubs, classes, ah community events, any anything. That are free. That are are free. You got apps like Meetup. Bumble actually has a friends section where you can just...
00:42:40
Speaker
meet people to make friends because a lot of like you said a lot of people moving for work traveling all over day doing different things I know when I came down here I was very lucky because our brother was down here and I also had one friend that I knew from back home that was down here so I was able to like build community around those two but I'm sure it would have been incredibly difficult for me to come down here and not know anybody um so you got to get you know, be more mindful and intentional about building connections. and
00:43:16
Speaker
another thing that I do is i like to volunteer. um You can always find volunteer opportunities in, you know, local missions, shelters, things like that.
00:43:28
Speaker
There's a United Way. We'll send you an email. They will send you an email. Okay. Bi-weekly, monthly, and let you know about volunteer opportunities in your area. That's another way to, like, not only foster connection, but also give you that sense of, like,
00:43:44
Speaker
Community? Community, but also like you're you're contributing something. It's like a sense of purpose, right? so there are there there are ways to do it to combat loneliness.
00:43:57
Speaker
And when you recognize that somebody around you, like if they start communicating, you know, I just feel alone, just feel isolated, just I just feel some type of way. And, i you know, deaths that's your cue to start engaging with them and being really um intentional about like actively listening, approaching them with compassion and empathy and and grace and things like that.
00:44:31
Speaker
Jay, a friend of mine sent me a reel that I saw this morning. And this is the reason why I want to talk about this subject. The friend is my age, literally my age, is a couple of months older than me.
00:44:45
Speaker
We're very similar in the ways that we grew up, just like all millennials are, right? And it was saying the differences between millennials and Gen Z. Basically, like if you didn't have to ask your mom if you had to stay over somebody's house, if you didn't get a if you got time out of instead of a beating, if you didn't have field day,
00:45:08
Speaker
Something like Field Day. Then you can't say nothing to me. And it got me thinking because I have such admiration for Gen Z because they are far more emotionally intelligent at their ages compared to when we were their ages. Like it's light years. But I think they get a bad rep for being sensitive and soft. And I think that maybe we...
00:45:30
Speaker
lack true empathy. And yes that generation actually has empathy. yes They normally get kid accused of being self-absorbed and self-centered, but it's actually our generation ah that is Absolutely. That lacks boundaries.
00:45:47
Speaker
that's the That's the difference. that Our generation lacks boundaries. They're not being self-absorbed. They're not being self-centered. They have healthy boundaries that they don't allow people to cross.
00:46:00
Speaker
And if you do cross it, there is going to be some sort of repercussion. A lot of y'all older folks out there just be letting people run roughshod all over you. And you'd be like, well, that's grandma, so she can say what she wants. Right. And she can.
00:46:15
Speaker
Right. So this article is 12 phrases that trigger zns Gen Z, but older generations don't think twice about. and the story is by Radha Pereira. Yeah. that's good That's as close as I'm going to get.
00:46:28
Speaker
I think Rita Pereira. yeah Well, that was said well more eloquently than I would. But this article explores the generational divide in language, highlighting 12 common phrases that older generations use without a second thought, but which Gen Z often finds a fist offensive, invalidating, or dismissive. This disconnect is rooted in differences in values and communication styles and attitudes towards mental health, social justice, and technology.
00:46:53
Speaker
Gen Z's emphasis on empathy, Inclusivity and emotional intelligence means that they are more sensitive to language that feels dismissive or outdated, especially when it comes to social issues or personal experiences. So are we going to go through all 12 phrases?
00:47:09
Speaker
I don't know. Not phases. I said it right before we started this segment that I was going to stop saying phases and we're going to say phrases. But ladies and gentlemen, if it's if it's a day That day, I done messed up several words. I already messed up geo-geographic. You know, you you're human. You're human being. Yeah.
00:47:32
Speaker
And that it is what it is. So one of the phrases that that Gen Z often gets annoyed by is, get over it. yeah It feels dismissive of mental health struggles and invalidates genuine concerns, especially for a generation that values emotional openness.
00:47:52
Speaker
yeah And I will say that I used to say, yeah, just get over it. Because ah once again, I was emotionally into ah ignorant. Yeah.
00:48:03
Speaker
And now I'm becoming emotionally intelligent and realizing that look, just because I may think something is not a big deal, does that mean that that's the biggest deal of the person's world right now? Like when we were kids, we just talked, we just touched on in the last segment.
00:48:19
Speaker
What happened to us at school was our entire world. yeah We didn't realize that that that small window of four years in our high school Like half the time, we wouldn't even remember whatever thing that was serious that happened that day.
00:48:32
Speaker
A year from then, much less 20 years from then. But in that moment, that is the most important... It's whole world. Right. It's also incredibly dismissive. It's like when people tell you to calm down and relax.
00:48:45
Speaker
When has telling somebody to calm down and relax ever worked in the history of this world? It don't... Oh, get over it? Oh, you're right. Yeah.
00:48:56
Speaker
I should just get over it. No, that's the dumbest and most dismissive thing that you could say. You can't just tell somebody to get over it. don't think I thought it You don't think i would if I could, but I don think I would if I could.
00:49:09
Speaker
Don't just dismiss my my genuine like struggle. My this is important to me. Do not dismiss it by telling me to get over it or calm down or relax.
00:49:22
Speaker
Oh, oh, I should just relax. Oh, that's a great idea. i don't know why I haven't thought of that. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Please stop telling people that. Well, here's another one that's gonna piss you off. Don't be so dramatic is another phrase yeah that pisses Gen Z off. It undermines emotional expression and reinforces the stigma around discussing feelings, which Gen Z actively works to dismantle. yeah You know why?
00:49:46
Speaker
Because it's effin' healthy. i said something on my episode that released on Tuesday, ah how there's this whole... thing going around, could 100 men beat a gri one gorilla?
00:49:59
Speaker
And the answer is no. The answer is yes, yes, under the right circumstances. yeah But the answer is truly no. Because the original question was, could 100 average men beat a gorilla? And the answer is no, because they're going to face fear. And a lot of times men don't want to address the fact that they're afraid.
00:50:17
Speaker
yeah Everything that that pisses men off is because we are afraid. And... and Gen Z is openly like, yo, we're going to dismantle that. So don't tell me that I'm being dramatic. Don't be dramatic.
00:50:31
Speaker
This is how I feel. I'm going to express the way I feel. Exactly. I mean, it's very similar to tone policing. You know, if I'm upset, I'm going to express that upset.
00:50:42
Speaker
And that's going to come out the way that it's going to come out. Now, they as long as I'm not a danger to myself or others, let me have my meltdown. Right. Let me have my meltdown so that I can get it out of my system, collect myself and move forward.
00:51:01
Speaker
But don't tell me that I'm being dramatic because this is something that is affecting me emotionally or or mentally or physically or something.
00:51:12
Speaker
Something is going on that is eliciting this response. And to me, it's not dramatic. To me, it's important. And you should validate my feelings, not dismiss them.
00:51:26
Speaker
Another way, another phrase that pisses off Gen z if it doesn't affect you, Oh, excuse me. Another phrase that pisses off Gen Z. Eventually, going get these right.
00:51:38
Speaker
It doesn't affect you, so why do you care so much? This ignores Gen Z's commitment to empathy and social activism, invalidating their drive to support causes beyond their immediate experience. Something like, I don't know, Black Lives Matter?
00:51:54
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So a lot of older generations and would say it starts to break up around like the millennial era, but certainly younger millennials longer millennials, but certainly with Gen Z. But there is this very individualistic, you know, the the American dream that everybody is force fed in this country that doesn't exist.
00:52:21
Speaker
um The American dream is very individualistic. It is not supportive of community. It's supportive capitalism. And so you're growing up in an environment of like everybody for themselves.
00:52:35
Speaker
And we lost that sense of community, right? Especially I think about in the black community where like the church used to be the center of our community. was where, you know, everything happened through the church, any kind of social activism or political activism or food drives or anything, you know, anything, it happened through the church. And because we shifted focus to this more like individualistic view of like success, especially in this country, we move away from building community and caring about the people in our community, especially the most vulnerable among us.
00:53:17
Speaker
So, to fate, to say it again. ah Look, ladies and gentlemen, I don't know what's happening to me today. I felt good today. Yeah. feel like in good spirits. Yeah. But I'm struggling a little bit.
00:53:28
Speaker
Two phrases that pissed Gen Z off. And we're going to do these back to back because I feel like they're connected. We've been through this before and back in my day. Right. Right.
00:53:40
Speaker
They're both used to dismiss the new perspectives or concerns by implying that older generations' experiences are more valid, which stifles productive dialogue and compares current struggles to the past in a way that belittles the unique challenges Gen Z faces, particularly in the workforce.
00:54:01
Speaker
And... Yes. I even get it from boomers. Back in my day, you know I would have had a house of family and all this. i was like, yeah, for $12.99. I'm going to be honest. I am guilty of this as well. like Especially in the current political landscape, right you got all these memes of like it's like a this horrible political news and Black people were just doing line dancing. right right Because we like hey we've been through this before.
00:54:28
Speaker
ah and we go we've come out the other side and we're going to be fine again so it's so but I even have to stop myself and be like yeah we have been through worse well I don't know yeah' all relative it's all relative it's all relative we have been through difficult times in this country I mean this country has been at war with itself from its inception yes so um So it it kept it i I get how that can be invalidating for people who have not lived through that.
00:55:05
Speaker
Like this is there. We've been through this before. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And think people need get to- This back in my day. Yeah. we have to be more cognizant of the fact that this is what's going be in their children's history books.
00:55:18
Speaker
Yes. Yes. And and and that's a hard concept to visualize. Mm-hmm. Because if you're a parent, and an uncle, an aunt, a godfather, things of that nature, and and you're trying to be upbeat and be like, yeah, we've been through this before, it's going be all right. Because back in my day, this is way we handled it. We ain't talking about back in the day.
00:55:38
Speaker
yeah Because back in the day is different than what it is right now. there They are faced, the younger generation is faced with certain circumstances and actions that I couldn't even fathom.
00:55:51
Speaker
And I don't have an answer on how to deal with it because actually, I haven't been through it before. Not specifically what they're going through. It looks familiar, yeah but it's not the same.
00:56:04
Speaker
So you can't be so dismissive of another person's plight. Yeah. A couple more things that pisses off Gen Z. It's just the way things are.
00:56:16
Speaker
This signals resistance to change and innovation clashing with Gen Z's desire to challenge the status quo and improve systems. And that's not a real job. This misses new career paths and the evolving job market, especially remote or digital work that is increasingly common among Gen Z. I personally had this with our father who told me When I wanted to start to do something one time, I had an option to go to do something very similar that was a lot more sturdy and had a lot more...
00:56:53
Speaker
o Notority and prestige surrounding it. We were both similar, but I knew that my path fit me better.
00:57:04
Speaker
And I didn't want to go that route. And our father cussed me 17 ways through Sunday. Through Sunday. Damn. Said that i was i was dead wrong. I didn't know I was talking about it, and I was an idiot.
00:57:17
Speaker
Two years later, he comes to me. He's like, I didn't see it. You were right. and And not all people do that right. yeah i'm I'm not knocking my father. I'm actually giving him kudos because he didn't see the vision because that type of vision wasn't in his perspective coming up as a career path.
00:57:37
Speaker
yeah But when I did it, he was a adult enough, emotionally intelligent enough to be like, you know what? I was wrong. You did do this. This opens up new possibilities of things that I didn't even think were possible.
00:57:49
Speaker
yeah And so people are so stuck, especially really our generation and a generation Gen X and boomers of this was a certain way. Yeah. I know it freaks boomers out.
00:58:02
Speaker
When Gen X started this and millennials really carried it on, when we did not follow the career path that our bachelor's degree told us that we were supposed to follow, yeah the majority of people that are out there working, they are not doing anything associated with their bachelor's degree.
00:58:19
Speaker
Not a thing. It's almost like, why'd you go to school? Because their career path was, you go to school for this degree and that's what you do. Yes. We got a cousin that has a degree in biomechanical engineering. i don't even know what that is but is...
00:58:38
Speaker
Something very extraordinary extraordinary. yeah Don't do that at all, but it's still very, very successful. So yeah these ideas of this is this is what I believe is the path.
00:58:51
Speaker
The world constantly evolves. You need to evolve with it. Yeah, it was like I was telling somebody, you know, obviously I'm in the I'm in and data science and that includes AI, right?
00:59:04
Speaker
And there are a lot of people that are very concerned about AI taking jobs. Well, there's no more TV VCR repair. No, there isn't. You know what I'm saying?
00:59:16
Speaker
Because why? Because we moved on to new technologies. and But that just, the job market is just going to evolve along with the new technology. And then you have this very thriving gig economy in this in this country and globally.
00:59:33
Speaker
that, you know, a lot of a lot of, I think, older people is like, no, you need to go to an office, wear a suit and tie. and ah No, I can actually be a courier and just ride my bike and deliver packages.
00:59:46
Speaker
And make good money. And make very good money. like You know what saying? Like, there are ah different ways, different paths to success. And I think it's this older generation, and and I'm not saying that Yeah, Raging Against the Machine started with Gen X. They didn't carry it through. Millennials picked it up a little bit and was like, hey, we should put mental health in this.
01:00:08
Speaker
And then Gen Z took it and ran with it. But it's like these ah the older generations of this is how life is supposed to go, says society. And Gen Z is like, yeah, but are y'all happy?
01:00:25
Speaker
are you fulfilled? Are you feeling purposeful? Like... is it are How is your mental health? Are you burned out? Are you stressed out? Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, we should also be asking those questions and not just saying,
01:00:43
Speaker
society tells me that this is the way my life is supposed to go i'm supposed to graduate high school go to college get married buy a house have a child work until i can't anymore and then retire and then sit around and get on people nerves and then pass away and that's it and so well you know but like like that is supposed to be the life plan right but how How is that one life plan going to work for the seven billion people that are in this world? That doesn't make sense.
01:01:14
Speaker
True. All right. We're just going to finish up with two more phrases. And I feel like these are very, very important and hammer home why I believe Gen Z is right in all this.
01:01:25
Speaker
Two phrases. The boys boys will be boys. And that's not very ladylike. Let's start with the boys will be boys. Go back and watch a movie that all millennials saw as kids or preteens.
01:01:40
Speaker
Back to the Future. Yes. Pay very close attention to Biff. Yeah. Biff was a psychopath sexual assault person. What do I mean by that? He tried to kill Marty McFly several times, and he has literally is sexually assaulted Marty McFly's mother in the car.
01:02:01
Speaker
Yeah. Go back and watch that movie, and it's all under the guise of this comedy, Boys Will Be Boys. yeah That's the reason why there was a whole Me Too movement. Because the expression, boys will be boys, was said for so long that men could just do whatever the hell they wanted and get away with it.
01:02:20
Speaker
And then finally women said, the hell they can. And this thing that's not very ladylike, not very ladylike to who? right You? Your idea of what a lady is?
01:02:32
Speaker
Fact of the matter is, to me, many women would say Glorilla is not very ladylike. I think she's all the way a lady because she's a boss. Yes. She is a boss. She goes out there and gets her money.
01:02:45
Speaker
Mm-hmm. She employs people. Yep. She's an entrepreneur. Yep. And she is an artist. Yeah. She's a boss. Yeah. That to me is very ladylike. Cause that's how I like my ladies.
01:02:57
Speaker
Little classy, short, little assy. But that's just me. That's just me. But the... But it it it... It keeps us from like true self-expression.
01:03:11
Speaker
and And it's like you said, boys will be boys. That... that just perpetuates not just these gender stereotypes, right? But it also is complicit in just gender violence.
01:03:27
Speaker
Yes. Yes. If you don't explain to little boys why they should not be hitting little girls, shouldn't be hitting anybody unless you're defending yourself, then you're going to get grown men hitting wives, girlfriends, daughters.
01:03:44
Speaker
I mean, and not only that, if you're not leading by example, oh you know, if they come home and they see men beating on women, oh then that becomes their reality.
01:03:58
Speaker
Yeah. And if those men are never being held accountable, not by the family, not by the community, not by anybody... Then where is the where is that line that says this is not acceptable behavior? They never learn it.
01:04:14
Speaker
They never learn it. But, you know, those are just a few of the phrases that Gen Z gets annoyed about. And you know what? I agree with them on every single one. We as millennials, Gen X and boomers got some growing up to do.
01:04:30
Speaker
I know we feel like we're growing up just because we older don't mean that we growing up. You we guys were growing up to do. Jay, what do you want to tell the people out there? Hey, yeah um check on check on your strong friends.
01:04:43
Speaker
Check on your strong friends. They might be feeling lonely. They might be feeling isolated, especially because if they're the ones that always take on the stuff and are always doing the things and you never really see them relying on anybody, check on your strong friend because that that person might be feeling isolated, might be feeling socially isolated and alone.
01:05:07
Speaker
ah I agree with everything you just said. That does not pertain to me, ladies and gentlemen. Don't check on me. Leave me the hell alone. Y'all bothering me, asking me where the YouTube exclusives and and I watch your podcast every day on TikTok. Idiots! No, solitude. like that ah Physically being alone is lot of times a choice and it actually can be empowering. yeah But loneliness, loneliness is not a choice. Yeah, this is true. And on that note, ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank you for listening.
01:05:36
Speaker
I want to thank you for watching. And until next time, as always, I'll holla.
01:05:46
Speaker
That was a hell of a show. Thank you for rocking with us here on Unsolicited Perspectives with Bruce Anthony. Now, before you go, don't forget to follow, subscribe, like, comment, and share our podcast wherever you're listening or watching it to it.
01:06:00
Speaker
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01:06:15
Speaker
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01:06:34
Speaker
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01:07:10
Speaker
Audi 5000. Peace.