Editorial Writing: Tips on Improving Your Curriculum Vitae
Generational Evolution of the Burnout Society
JC
Achieve or be a nobody. That’s how Byung-Chul Han sees the two paths available to most in today’s world. The book was published in Berlin in 2010, originally titled Die Müdigkeitsgesellschaft. Or, as it's known in English, Burnout Society. Han observes the self-propelled obsession with achievement and success. Titular burnout is a result of a life lived under this constant pressure. I observe how, 15 years later, the generation raised on burnout gets by.
Ability to create your own path promised liberation. Most institutions used this promise to give up on trying to shape the next generation. Somewhere between 18 and 23 you’re dropped into a void marketed as a blank slate. You are your own boss. Meant to develop the company-self. I have to say, I’m not arguing for the return of an oppressive-institutional order. If it had kept on going I’d probably spend my days toiling in a tractor factory in Eastern Poland. But, I want to point out how the lack of guidance and financial prospects lead to a generational sense of loss. Brought up in the success obsession, while lacking physical proofs milestoning that success. Gen Z transferred this value system onto something else. Achievement obsession spread into the most intimate. As the financial stopped determining social value, self-worth is measured elsewhere. Instead of cash we count personality-points.
Points of collected life experiences. Gathering the desirable parts in the life journey determines worth. Just as Byung-Chul Han stated, expanding the me-project is the ultimate goal. Professional success is still highly sought after. So-called “creative” jobs are an example. But, career stopped being the focal point. Your life is now your company. You’re meant to capitalize on every second of your existence, pursuing unending progress. All under the same the endless growth assumption our systems are built on.
Productivity now dominates the social, and inner areas. Exacerbated by social media, the process feels like a natural progression of the productivity cult. In a blurred-class world your value is counted through owned experiences. Through visual and verbal proofs that you had more life than the person you’re talking to. Traveling, personal style, cultural immersion, or languages you speak. It has to be stated that most of these were always class, and wealth symbols. But, the achievement currency also takes simpler forms. Digi cam videos, underground events, and all the things you are made to desire. Your life is meant to look appealing enough to convince everyone you’re living an achieved life. In turn, convincing yourself. Lacking the ability to gather wealth, but still stuck with the capitalist need to measure. Aesthetics are now the currency. Appearances of personality open the doors for social, and professional opportunities. All done without appearing to try. Just like an efficient factory you’re judged by the final product. What goes inside should remain an industry secret.
Throughout this short piece I purposefully avoided the verb lived. I did so since the commodification of experiences eliminates their authenticity. They’re less lived, and more collected. Added to our, now more literal, CV. Most of these observations have been explained more thoroughly by people smarter than me. What I intended to do is name some of them. The ideas already flowing in many conversations around me. All written by someone who all they ever saw was the progress cult.