As a member of Generation X, I often find myself feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, and, if I'm being honest, a little disillusioned by the world younger generations—especially Gen Z and the ones even younger—are building. It's as though everything we did and believed in was wrong, completely invalidated, and brushed aside. There’s an undeniable sense that they’ve simply hit the delete button on us, erasing our contributions, our experiences, and our relevance.
It feels, at times, as if our experience is obsolete, irrelevant to the world they are now crafting. And that leaves us in a state of confusion, anger, and growing resentment. This chasm between us is palpable, and the lack of meaningful communication only widens it. Of course, I understand why this is happening. Our generations—X, Baby Boomers, and the ones before us—have not always been shining examples of empathy or emotional intelligence. We were so deeply focused on hard work, success, and building stable lives that we often missed the emotional needs of others, even within our own families.
Ironically, family was always touted as the most important thing, but we sacrificed it at the altar of career ambition, the grind, and the relentless pursuit of financial security. And now, as Gen Z speaks passionately about mental health, work-life balance, and inclusivity, we can't help but feel like we’re being blamed for everything that’s gone wrong. It’s a strange mix of shame and defensiveness, as if we failed in the very task we were so sure we were mastering.
The truth is, I, like many of my Gen X peers, don't feel heard. I don’t see an eagerness to communicate with us, to engage in constructive dialogue, or to learn from what we did—both right and wrong. I feel cancelled, erased, and discarded. This isn’t just a gap in understanding; it’s a communication impasse. And as long as this silence remains, the tension between us will only grow.
Yet, despite all these overwhelming feelings of being misunderstood, overlooked, and undervalued, there is hope. Because when I listen closely, I realize that Gen Z is fighting for many of the same things we fought for. The issues may be framed differently, but at the heart of it, they are speaking about the very things that sparked cultural revolutions in our time. Whether it was punk rock’s rebellion against the establishment or grunge’s raw expression of disillusionment, we too were driven by a desire for authenticity, for a world where people could be free to be themselves.
The social justice causes Gen Z so passionately champions—climate action, mental health, equity—these were all seeds planted by the same cultural shifts that shaped us. We just didn’t have the tools or the language to express them as clearly. That’s why I believe the growing divide between our generations is not only unfortunate but dangerous.
We must find a way to bridge this gap, to reach out to each other, and to listen—truly listen—with open hearts and minds. Because at the end of the day, we aren’t so different after all. The cancel culture that seeks to dismiss whole generations, entire groups of people, will never lead to a perfect world. What will build that better future is dialogue. Honest, empathetic, and difficult conversations between us all.
And that can only happen if we are willing to engage, to try, and to believe that, despite our differences, we’re all working toward the same goal: a world where everyone belongs, where every voice matters, and where, together, we create a future worth living in.
