The Generation Of 84: A Lost Generation, Living On What Has Been Left Over

The generation of 84, a few years above or below, grew up with very high expectations. They were the sweet years of capitalism and, just released the candy of youth, they lived the happiest years of their lives. Beyond the typical problems of each young man, the horizon was presented to conquer him.

Having grown up in relative abundance, they had not experienced problems of violence, uprooting or economic collapse. Everything was laid out for them on a silver platter: fun relationships, travel, training, family pride in their accomplishments, and concerns regarding their age. When to become independent, when to stop training to start the first job or how many languages ​​were necessary in addition to middle English.

But suddenly, all the silver trays fell, the doors closed and it seemed that outside only sirens sounded of fear, of catastrophe. Bombs of economic paralysis and blame on our side, when we had not even gone out to check what was happening out there. The generation of 84, the most prepared, happy and calm, would go from promising to disappearing.

Someone always has to suffer the consequences of something wrong. In this case they were not the culprits. The victims came to suffer. That was the starting point to adult life.

The generation of 84: a war in which bombs are not heard

They say that over time, ex-combatants in a war develop post-traumatic stress disorder. The generation of 84 has not suffered a war, they do not have the moral license to complain about not having gone through hunger and death. However, it has also been subject to a major impact.

Listless, used and tired. Consuming psychotropic drugs after a pilgrimage of garbage jobs, deception and uprooting. Amputated for years intellectually, doing jobs for which they were never trained and where they were overqualified.

What used to be a triumph, in a job interview became a danger. Diplomas and degrees were useless. They had to hide their merits. They did not study to feel more than anyone else, on the other hand, many who did not study and only worked saw them as a useless and outdated population.

Like the exiles of war, they were the exiles of the mediocrity and corruption of a country. They did not leave with cardboard suitcases, but with laptops. With anger and dismay and without knowing very well if that is what they should do.

The generation of 84: ignored by the guilty, advanced by the new youth

When these young people entered the labor market, they only found closed doors. Contracts in black. Submerged economy. Nor did they care about their social and labor rights. They just wanted to make ends meet by having some money to go out with their friends and then sleep at their parents’ house.

So they spent years, watching series, hearing about the risk premium, looking for work with accommodation as waiters, babysitters, caregivers or Spanish teachers, if they were lucky.

They remained in a pseudo-adolescent state, with ages to buy a house and have plans for a couple, but in which they could only hope to save for a three-day trip to a nearby beach, buy some clothes and hope that an internship would help them. to end the year in the family home dreaming of having another life.

Some opted for oppositions that had nothing to do with what was studied. They started from scratch. They began to develop frustration, isolation, anxiety, and depression . Always aware of the places, without even being able to aspire to be examined once a year.

Millennials have arrived

At the same time, a generation much more digitally prepared, with more languages, knowing everything that was happening or had already happened, came aware and strong. They reinvented themselves with jobs such as youtouber , influencer , more practical training, long stays abroad.

The values ​​of those who had created this social hecatomb were worth nothing to them. Family? Stable work? Pension plan? A generational abyss.  Suddenly, the generation of 84 realized that they had nothing to offer and most importantly, they had no hope of fitting in in a relevant way in this world.

The generation of 84: we are not a lost generation, but an abandoned one

Our times have not been happy. They have never stopped being tough. When we came back from washing dishes from other countries and we spoke some English, they had already overtaken us.

When we were looking for the first payroll, the company’s recruiter explained to us that they were looking for a younger profile. When we looked for other positions, they were already filled by the older generation. They had not just one job at times, but three. Beach house and paid town house.

So what about us?

Without mental health assistance, with job instability and forgotten. Nobody treats us like young people with the charm and courage of inexperience and neither like professionals with a long curriculum. Nobody recognizes us as war wounded, from a war without bombs, but with suicides, unemployment, overexploitation, uprooting and depression.

Our values, generosity and infinite patience have built a thread of strength that also sustains this society. Many of us have worked 40 hours a week without a paper recognition.

Although they have made us invisible, we are here. And one day we will start talking when people wonder what has been done so badly in mental health and how people can become so tired and depressed. ¿ Our responsibility? Our fault?