The Subject

Who are “American Youth”? For this article, I define American youth as Americans between the ages of 13 and 35. The upper limit makes the range quite wide, but the societal patterns discussed appear within the population in that age range.

The Beginning

I would consider myself to be quite extroverted. I am not afraid of approaching people, and actually feel very comfortable when speaking to a group of people my age.

However, I have noticed I don’t have many acquaintances outside of my friend groups. Is it somehow my fault, that I am unable to find common interests with my “generation”, or is there a larger issue to be discussed?

The Indifference Is Large

Outside of campus, there are several places where I will get to meet young Americans: organized events, restaurants, stores, skate parks, and many other places. I have no shortage of avnues to find people in my age group.

But I have difficulty finding like-minded people. Why is that?

Shortly put it, I have nothing interesting to discuss with the majority of young Americans.

A Dead Light Bulb

Most of the interactions I have with young Americans leave me with less hope in the future of this nation. You may think I am overreacting, but I truly think I am not.

I find it demoralizing to spend time around young Americans, when their mind space is occupied by matters that have little spiritual or intellectual importance.

Well, what matters am I speaking of? The following are the topics I cannot stop hearing about when around young Americans: social media, shoes, marijuana, big league sports, video games, hair, women, partying, celebrities, and “designer” fashion.

Why don’t they instead speak of more intriguing and challenging topics, like mathematics, history, science, poetry, and spirituality? Well, it’s because their environment offered them no better choice.

The Illusion Of Choice

Among my favorite modern philosophers is René Girard. He proposed the mimetic theory, and described the mimetic desire in this famous quote:

“Man is the creature who does not know what to desire, and he turns to others in order to make up his mind. We desire what others desire because we imitate their desires.” — René Girard

Most will make nothing out of the mimetic theory, chalking it up to something along the lines of “I already knew that”, or “I don’t really care if others influence me”.

The idea and consequences are much more severe and grave than mere influence and mimicry. The truth is, most choices made by man are not original.

Give yourself some time tonight to truly reflect on who you are and what you involve yourself in. Are the choices you make truly yours? Question the decisions you have made, such as the phone you bought, the concert you attended, the major you chose in university, the clothes you wear, and that tattoo you got.

Did you really make those choices, or did you find comfort in conforming and imitating your surrounding.

Once you notice the pattern, if you are able to, you will never be able to ignore it. You will realize you are a subject to the mimetic theory, and that the choices you make aren’t entirely yours.

Why It Matters

Alright, so what if the choices we make aren’t original, can’t we still be happy?

Yes, but noticing this pattern will make you redefine your method of living. You’ll think twice before making some unnecessary purchase, posting pictures online, watching that show everyone has been talking about. Instead, you’ll try to find subjects and hobbies that really cater to you. Of course, you won’t be alone, as almost any interest will have its own community. But, you’ll isolate yourself from the general crowd, the one that moves together in fear of being left behind. Your fear of missing out (FOMO) will fade, and you’ll find more peace and comfort when left alone to entertain yourself. The false and poor opinions of others won’t matter anymore. You will find a more fulfilling lifestyle.

The Honest Truth

A lot of young Americans are absolutely insufferable to be around. To be clear, they aren’t bad people, but their character discourages depth and critical thinking.

The mixture of ignorance, lack of creativity, disinterest in reading and learning, herd-like mentality, and immoral lifestyle makes many of them a danger to be around.

For a short-term encounter, it may not be that big of a deal. Perhaps you meet a nice group of young adults at a basketball court, and you’ll find yourself enjoying a quick game of H. O. R. S. E.

However, when you are pushed to spend a longer amount of time with them, you come to find out how miserable they are internally.

Repeating my earlier point, their hobbies and interests are intellectually depleting. Every inhale of their vape solidifies their negative reputation, along with their rants about their hatred for school and their parents.

When you try to organize an event with them, they usually come late or cancel the plan altogether (usually making some hubris excuse of “being busy”).

For these reasons, the time I spend outside of solitude will be with a small group of friends and family.

Sounds Like A You Problem

You would be right, it is a “me” problem. I have found people who agree with the sentiment declared in this article, most of them being my friends. And if you were angered or bothered by reading this article, there is probably a very good reason why :]

How Do We Change

In some ways, this could be a self-solving problem. Over a longer period of time, people will begin reversing these societal issues, and matters will go “back to normal”.

But I believe we should focus on ourselves first, before helping others.

It’s similar to putting on your oxygen mask first, before assisting others. My first advice would be to stay away from social media. This would be the subject of another article, but in short, there is not a shred of positivity that social media can bring you.

If you want to share memories in the form of videos and pictures with your friends and family, you will enjoy it much more if you simply send it to them directly.

Sharing personal details and memories with hundreds of people, or the whole world, makes you miserable. Constantly seeing what others are doing, but only seeing the highest moments, will make you feel negative about yourself and your own life.

Another practice I would recommend is to start reading more, specifically about your own interests; fill your mind with better subjects to think about.

My final advice, is to spend more time alone. There are many benefits to this, but the main ones include personal growth and increased excitement for social events.

When you spend time alone (and offline!), you start to be more productive, and find interesting hobbies. Whether it’s drawing, origami, Minecraft, or creating your own website, you find unique ways of entertaining yourself.

And as counterintuitive as it may sound, spending more time alone makes your social interactions much more enjoyable. Spending hours upon hours with your friends, every single day, will cause some type of burnout.

But, if you see them twice a week, for a couple hours, it becomes a lot more enjoyable. You can speak to each other of what you learned that specific week, what new hobbies you may have embarked upon, and much more.

These are some simple pieces of solid advice I can recommend for living a more socially independent life.