Guest Post: Talia Hansen

A GenZ Response to the System is a Beast

n.b: My friend and GenZ mentor, Talia Hansen, took great exception to my thoughts on GenZ and the future of humanity. She shared her thoughts and I invited her to share them for wider consumption here.

A quote often attributed to Socrates (though whether he ever said it remains a matter of debate), and yet it neatly encapsulates the perennial complaint of the older generation about the younger: "The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers." Well, it seems we're still carrying on that great tradition of generational friction, albeit with a slightly different mix of fabric orders and existential dread. I see your observations on Generation Z and raise you one bold truth: every generation thinks the one that follows is irredeemably doomed. It’s practically a rite of passage.

You’re right: there’s a gap, but let’s not mistake a chasm for a trampoline. Rest assured, we have a tendency to look at those who came before us and ponder the same thing, "how on earth could anyone come to that conclusion?" As, maybe, I did when reading your take on the way GenZ functions and sees the world.

You’ve identified a key issue: the unwavering faith the Boomers placed in institutions, which, as you said, were a lot less complex and a lot more "get it done" back in the day. The "golden age" of unquestioning institutional loyalty, where the system worked because, frankly, it was designed to benefit *you*. But let’s not romanticize this, shall we? There’s a reason folks were so eager to trust the system—they didn’t have the internet to expose the ugly underbelly of everything. If anything, we (the cursed Millennials and Gen Z) inherited the beautiful, hopeful lie of "everything works if you work hard enough." Turns out, not everything does—especially when systems are more invested in perpetuating their own existence than in serving actual people. But no worries—we’re totally fine with calling out the man in charge, that's the beauty of cancel culture after all!

Now, about this idea of “policies over people”: we get it. There’s this strange irony that while we advocate for individuality, we’re “obsessed with faceless, impersonal systems”. But here’s where I think you’ve missed the mark—maybe we’re not so tied to rigid systems as you think. Maybe we’ve just learned that we can’t rely on these systems to solve all our problems, and it’s high time they learn to bend when necessary, not us. The truth is, the more we support "identity-based" agendas, the more we’re challenging these outdated systems. It’s not that we love rules, it’s that we’re being forced to exist within them until we can dismantle them, piece by piece. Unfortunately it’s a bit harder to do when the policies are written and passed by people who hold onto power well past their prime. Another version of the “faceless machine” they just happen to wear fancy suits.

As for the politics you describe—yes, we’re deeply invested in identity. But here’s the kicker: identity is now a tool for disruption, not conformity. What you call “Same but Different” is actually a bold stance against the herd mentality that defined previous generations. In the case of companies like Apple and Nike, they’re selling us a narrative, not a product. We buy into the cultural story behind the product, which is a far cry from the GenX "Think Different" ethos that championed rebellion just for the sake of rebellion. No, we’re more strategic now. We care about companies that stand up for something—or at the very least, don’t get in the way of our value systems. Want to sell us a cup of coffee? Great! Show us a rainbow flag and an ethical supply chain. That’s how capitalism works now. (At least, we hope it does.)

Oh, and about “cancel culture” we perfected it, yes. But only because there are certain behaviors, certain people, and certain actions that are too harmful to ignore. We’ve finally figured out that you don’t have to turn a blind eye to things that hurt others just because "everyone else" is playing along. And yes, if we stop talking to you, it might be because we’ve realized that we don’t have to communicate with people who refuse to respect basic human dignity.

The Breakfast Spot Saga: A Case Study in Rigid Systems vs. Real People

Now, your breakfast spot anecdote? It’s a perfect case study in the absurdity of rules for the sake of rules—and yes, we’ve all been there. Look, if there’s one thing that Gen Z excels at, it’s recognizing when common sense is being overruled by unnecessarily complicated systems that no one really understands. I see your jaw-dropping moment and raise you this: We just don’t wait 30 minutes for waffles, and we definitely don’t sit around while other servers stand there, idle. Some call it our impatience, it's really just the practical next step. Instead we vote with our dollars, if a business fails due to their practices, hopefully the one that comes next to replace them will have learnt from their mistakes. 

Where Do We Go from Here?

First off, let’s be clear: systems are tools, not masters. You’re right! The problem is that the tools we’ve inherited are outdated, and blindly following them isn’t doing anyone any favors. So yes, we’re all about adapting—reworking these systems to actually serve us, not the other way around. That means breaking from tradition.

You say we need to foster critical thinking, and I agree. But we’re already doing it—we fact-check in real time, question everything, and recognize that institutions often aren’t as benevolent as they are painted to be. We’re not blind followers; we’re skeptical problem-solvers. The challenge isn’t that we don’t think critically, but that we’re thinking critically in new ways—ways that make the old systems look a little... out of touch.

We’re all for an open dialogue—but it has to go both ways. We’re ready to listen, but we also want you to listen to us. We don’t just want to improve the systems older generations created and respect; we want to make sure they actually work for people in the long term. So, if we’re stepping outside our comfort zones, we’d love for you to join us.

Where do we go from here? Forward. GenZ is poised to turn the tides and tame the beast. Maybe we will replace it with a fluffy, rainbow, glitter unicorn instead.