Old voters are scared. They know what poverty is, what hunger is. Many have experienced it for themselves, and they fight hard to represent their interests. However these same old voters, consumers, constituents, civilians take assertive steps to sway the political system to their benefit. Old folks vote, lobby, use their money and influence and policymakers are paying attention. 

Policymakers are by and large indifferent to whiny loser young folks. They make up bullshit stories about Millenials and Generation T such as slackers and advocado toast or woke or genderqueer or brat or bluehaired feminists or them being lazy. This is apparently a universal human mechanic, where older generations loudly yell their misgivings about the young, all the time lauding their own achievements. 

However competition world wide is escalating, and A.I. is going to massively disrupt an already massively disrupted world.  This societal dynamic is absolutely most bad-ass in China, Korea and Japan, where economic pressure is so cutthroat malignant that younger generations stopped having children altogether. 

Is there such a thing as “The Patriarchy”? I bet you ass there is. Boomers will become red in the face me claiming there is such a thing, but one week magically transformed into a young chick and they’d be singing a radically different tune. The resentment of young women who grew up in a pervasive atmosphere of male sexual predation has resulted in sweeping resentment of women, and this feeds on  the by and large unreasonable socio-economic expectations of society at large. In China there is a work culture of 6 days, working from 9 to 9 … that is working 6 days, sometimes 10 hour workdays. 

4B

Bai Lan 摆烂 (Let It Rot) – Tai Ping  躺平 (Laying Flat)

This is no longer a generational conflict or mere protest movement – these young people know goddamn well as soon as they opt out of family life, relationships, work in such a fundamentalist manner they are setting themselves up for a more difficult life down the road. “Opting Out” is a choice that will result in rather serious consequences 20, 30 years down the road. But what these youngsters are saying out loud – “the current pace and demands of society are already unsustainable for us”. They can’t do it anymore. They do not believe in it any more. They are done. 

Of course the older generations, Boomers, Gen-Xers, etcetera, are yelling loudly about these consequences and there’s a quite personal stake in it for them. The young defaulting on expectations means there will be less young folks available down the road to change their diapers when they are really old, to pay for their pensions, to serve them in the local waffle house, etcetera. The old are quite scared about this, and we are already seeing the panic. One politician in my country wants to ‘start the debate’ about low birth rates in the Netherlands and while he is not doing so he neglects that any measure to actually address low birth rates goes head to head with the interests of young people in particular the quite acute interests of younger women.  Any measure that would actually work to ‘somehow’ increase birth rates would cost a lot of money – money the young would be paying for in more taxation – and probably incorporate the imposition of political violence. It’s a lot of political busy work making young folks have kids in our current society, all while having a job, a busy social life, etcetera. 

The right wing loons in Murica are doing its damn best to try, in a de facto culture war on “feminism” and “woke” and “millenials” and “liberalism”. One weapon in the war on low birth rates is rolling back abortion rights. The right may claim they do this because they are deeply, deeply concerned over those poor aborted babies – even though it’s obvious they don’t give a damn about those same babbees a day after birth.

At this rate can you blame the younger folks a certain degree of cynicism?

But the world isn’t getting any nicer, more fun at this rate. We are seeing societal disruption headed our way – low birth rates, mass migration, inflation, disparity, technological unemployments, decarbonization, political corrupt influences by foreign nations, the political divide, diseases such as Covid. We will see a lot more stress for the young, especially in China, Korea, Japan where society has apparently adopted 1980s Cyberpunk as a blueprint for the next decades.

Tai Ping and Bai Lan are just the start. I asked my pal ChatGPT for some equivalents that might show up, and here’s a few:

“Void Succumb” (虚无屈服)

This movement goes beyond passive resistance or acceptance of failure; it is the complete rejection of existence itself. Participants of Void Succumb believe that nothing—not society, not human life, not even personal emotions—holds any intrinsic value. The movement is not just about rejecting societal norms but actively embracing a form of self-destruction and annihilation as a logical conclusion to the meaninglessness of existence.

In this dystopian future, technology has solved many practical problems (like scarcity, health, or war), but has simultaneously stripped human life of deeper meaning or purpose. People involved in Void Succumb engage in the following behaviors:

1. Conscious Erasure: These individuals do not merely “check out” from society—they aim to remove themselves from existence in a metaphysical sense. Some might use extreme forms of virtual reality or brain-upload technology to induce a permanent state of non-awareness or oblivion, effectively erasing their consciousness.

2. Self-Termination Pacts: In the most extreme cases, groups of individuals form “Termination Communities,” where they create a culture around suicide, often justified by the idea that life is an unbearable burden and opting out is the ultimate form of liberation. There could be rituals around this, making it a formalized way to die, possibly through a futuristic method like painless nanotech termination.

3. Anti-Survival Aesthetic: In contrast to the minimalism of Lying Flat, members of Void Succumb might intentionally embrace chaotic, disordered environments, or wear symbols and signs that mock the idea of existence, creating a nihilistic aesthetic of decay and anti-life. Think of living spaces that look post-apocalyptic or are intentionally neglected.

4. Public Acts of Destruction: Some adherents may take their rejection of life further by sabotaging key systems or technologies, viewing this as a way to accelerate humanity’s decline and bring about the inevitable end of civilization. Instead of passive acceptance like in “Let It Rot,” this movement would include an active element of tearing down remaining pillars of society.

5. Philosophical Justification: A nihilistic philosophy could develop around the idea that the ultimate truth of human existence is suffering, and that the most logical action is to cease existing. They might believe in a corrupted form of transhumanism, where instead of evolving to overcome human limitations, the ultimate goal is to transcend life by erasing it altogether.

In this dark future, Void Succumb could be seen as a response to centuries of automation, hyper-consumerism, and the erasure of individuality. It could reflect the darkest aspects of a society that has lost all sense of direction and meaning. Unlike the more passive disengagement of Tai Ping or the resignation of Bai Lan, this movement fully embraces the idea that there is no point in continuing at all.

Having fun? Here’s ten more

1. 绝望献祭 (Juéwàng Xiànjì) – “Despair Sacrifice”
   This phrase captures the idea of offering oneself up to despair, as if human existence itself is a sacrifice to a void or meaninglessness.

2. 寂灭之道 (Jìmiè Zhī Dào) – “The Path of Annihilation”
   Refers to a philosophical or life path that seeks ultimate destruction or erasure, highlighting the inevitability of obliteration.

3. 无生无灭 (Wú Shēng Wú Miè) – “No Birth, No Death”
   Denying the importance or reality of both life and death, this phrase conveys an apathetic indifference toward existence itself.

4. 虚无奉行 (Xūwú Fèngxíng) – “Devotion to Nothingness”
   Suggests a life lived in devotion to emptiness, where all pursuits and efforts are meaningless.

5. 破灭愿望 (Pòmiè Yuànwàng) – “Wish for Ruin”
   A desire not just for personal destruction, but for the ruin of all things, reflecting a deeply nihilistic worldview.

6. 生命终止论 (Shēngmìng Zhōngzhǐ Lùn) – “Theory of Life Termination”
   A philosophical doctrine or movement built around the active termination of life as the only logical conclusion to human existence.

7. 沉沦至底 (Chénlún Zhì Dǐ) – “Sink to the Bottom”
   Embracing the idea of sinking to the lowest possible state, mentally or spiritually, with no attempt at recovery or improvement.

8. 断灭追求 (Duànmiè Zhuīqiú) – “Pursuit of Final Extinction”
   Actively seeking the complete extinction of oneself, perhaps even encouraging this in society at large.

9. 虚空降临 (Xūkōng Jiànglín) – “The Void Descends”
   A poetic phrase indicating that the void or nothingness is an inevitable force descending upon the world and individuals alike.

10. 不归之境 (Bùguī Zhī Jìng) – “The Realm of No Return”
    A phrase that captures the sense of stepping into a point of no return—into an existential abyss where there is no possibility of coming back or redeeming life.

I bet you – unless politicians wake the fuck up, stuff like this WILL happen, and not just in Asia. 

One Max More just recently was getting all worked up about this, and I can’t resist sharing his anger with you all. Typical #Boomer.