It's been suggested before that conforming to societal standards mostly isn't a negative thing. But I believe there's an even deeper meaning behind this conjecture. In every Western country we have the stereotypical family norm exemplified by the block-headed "average Joe" (America) or "Svensson" (Sweden). We use Joes and Svenssons to describe a status quo lifestyle; something that implies taking a random human being and squeezing that person into some hamster wheel-schemed system anyone can successfully maintain.

But if we look at it more closely, that's not only incorrect; it's a trap. When I was in high school, we used to mock our parents and call them idiots. They, unlike the cool people you read about in books or see in movies, were working eight hours every day on some boring job to maintain a house and a family. Why would anyone want to become a Joe/Svensson, we asked? Thus, some of my pals drew the conclusion: "Fuck work, I'm going to save up money and travel all around Europe. Status quo sucks."

Reality, as always, keeps up with the future. Today most of my old class mates are either trying to improve their high school grades because they weren't paying attention to education before, or they're slaving away at some local factory, carrying heavy things for low pay. Whatever happened to those dreams of travel, independent lifestyle, popularity and luxury? Oh yeah, that was all bullshit. Ironically, the dreams we had of a lifestyle beyond the norms of our Social Democratic society turned out to lead most of us straight into welfare and low-pay slavery. Rather than avoid repeating the mistakes our parents committed, we have failed even at the very basics of living a civilized lifestyle.

To be fair, some people may actually manage to start up a successful business and buy themselves out of certain aspects of the hamster wheel. Most aren't. Looking back at the high school dreams of my generation, we were a bunch of losers without a clue. Losers, because while we were busy fooling around and mocking our parents, we later came to realize the obvious truth: Our parents, unlike many of the people in our generation, succeeded at building a foundation for themselves and society. They established healthy, well-functioning families, took care of their houses and neighborhoods; they found something they were good at and improved themselves within that field to feed us. They kept society going, regardless if they voted for boring parties or had to put up with not-so-exciting jobs.

In short, the elder generations were realists: Become middle class, succeed at it, nurture future generations. We, the late end of post-WWII baby booming, are the actual losers of our time. We're too confused to maintain long-term relationships, too self-centered to maintain jobs, and too lazy to even mow our own lawns. Watching my generation grow into big children who barely have their act together enough to reproduce and create a safe environment for their offspring, I cannot put this any other way: If you're here to make fun of people who're trying succeed in academia, establish a family, or become an experienced musician, you've just joined the same group of losers who spell decay for our civilization.