Issue #520: Is this what a fulfilling life looks like?
What does urban autonomy mean in 2019.
This tweet flew down my TweetDeck at the beginning of the week. I smashed "retweet" pretty hard thinking it would be a fleeting signal on the app I am so woefully addicted to. However, this particularly concise synopsis of our modern condition has stuck with me throughout the week. Lingering in the back of my mind like a fog of existential dread.
Urban “autonomy,” 2019:
— James Poulos (@jamespoulos) June 30, 2019
- Insurmountable debt
- Serial “relationships”
- Cookie-cutter micro-apartment
- Surrounded by homeless
- Permanent SSRIs
- Can’t afford children
- Afraid of starting a family
- Strapped to exercise equipment
- Uniformed corporate service job
- Pet poop
Is this what we're willing to settle for as a generation? Is this a new normal that will only be accentuated as we move further into the future? Will it be an accepted reality? Is it already an accepted reality?
As someone who checks off four of the ten boxes described above (humble brag, I know), it's hard not to think we're caught in a collective hamster wheel. Running round and round in a manufactured metaphysical cage that has confined the possibilities of our reality by creating unnecessary hurdles that stem from the nature of the political and financial system we find ourselves subjected to.
Success in this era is defined by how many mates you can lay with, how well your ant farm apartment is decorated, the ability to live without antidepressants, going to Soul Cycle over Flywheel, climbing the corporate ladder to Director within 15 years, and coming home to a designer dog you hand-picked from the breeder.
Is this what a fulfilling life looks like?
Final thought...
Pork roll is the GOAT breakfast meat.
Enjoy your weekend, freaks.
