Recently, I read a new word: the new (2020s) Flapper generation (eg, Big Think). In the 1920s, “Flappers were a subculture of young Western women [] who wore short skirts [], bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior.” (Wiki)
In the 1920s, the word flapper was a maverick term, something to be proud of. In the 2020s, the word flapper is mostly an insult given by seniors to juniors. It’s hard to interpret the following quote differently:
“The worst part is that they don’t care what people — their mothers and fathers and uncles and aunts — think of them. They haven’t any sense of shame, honor or duty… they don’t care about anything except pleasure.”
A quote from a paper on the new Flapper generation by Vivian Richardson, a self-admitted Dallas flapper.
I do not relate to this characterization of the new Flapper generation. Perhaps, I am lucky as a parent but I doubt that luck has a lot to do with it. In my view, the new Flapper generation is a consequence of misguided nurturing by my generation. The Flapper examples that I’m hearing relate to bad parenting.
On 6 September 2022, Bloomberg published an intriguing Gallup poll claiming that: ” ‘Quiet Quitters’ Make Up Half of the US Workforce, Gallup Finds. A survey finds that a significant share of workers are fulfilling their job responsibilities but not engaged with their work” (Bloomberg).
I enjoyed the FT response: “The term ‘quiet quitting’ is worse than nonsense. If your staff turn up every day, do exactly what you ask of them, but don’t go above and beyond, they are still working”. “I don’t think it’s a problem at all. First, the Gallup survey data suggests this is neither new nor a trend.”
Exactly! Moreover, what’s new?? Work is a need for most people, a want for some, but seldom a belief.
Older people often claim that everything used to be better (eg, my 2016 blog, Quora). Was it really??
The start of the 21st Century was indeed far from perfect: the 2007-2008 Financial Crisis, the Great Recession of 2007-2009, the global real estate bubble of 2013-2022, the 2019-onwards Corona pandemic crisis, the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine resulting in sky-high inflation in 2022.
Mid August, I published my blog: An anti-doom message. It’s my view that everything is better now than in previous centuries, despite a new Flapper generation and/or Quiet quitters. We may not (be willing to) see it now but we will see it once the proxy World War in Ukraine has ended in a Russian defeat.
Perhaps, it’s as simple as this: older people love to complain (eg, AgingCare, SeniorsAloud, Quora).
We cannot all be flappers, ehhh flippers.
Flipper, the 1965 – 1967 TV series
video
Note: all markings (bold, italic, underlining) by LO unless in quotes or stated otherwise.
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